Arts

Cookbook Club

Each month I cook through one cookbook and share my favorite recipes, my not-so-favorites, and what I’ll make again. Then you cook along, send me a short voice memo, and I weave listener voices right into the episode. Sometimes friends from my real-life cookbook club in Portland join in too. New episodes monthly. Follow along on Instagram @cookbookclubshow.

Latest Episodes:

12: Meal Trains Jan 12, 2022

Show notes

Meal Trains are a great way to use your cooking skill to care about people in your world going through a life change or a tough time. Eliz Roser joins us to chat about our best strategies for providing meals to others!

Resources from this episode:

Recipes/ideas from this episode:

Tuna noodle casserole
Thai salad with cashews
Picnic with salami, crackers etc.
Homemade meatballs in tomato sauce
West African peanut stew
Slow-cooker cassoulet
Foccacia (Salt Fat Acid Heat)
Red lentil soup (Dinner in an Instant)
The Kale salad that started it all (Six Seasons)
Baked ziti
Baked mac & cheese
Butter chicken (Indian Instant Pot)
Palak paneer (Indian Instant Pot)
Tomato coconut soup (Indian Instant Pot)
Baked oatmeal (Super Natural Every Day)
Eleven Madison Park granola (NYT)

About our Guest:

Eliz Roser is a former project manager and current stay at home mom of two. She lives in NE Portland, and loves grocery shopping alone, messy kid art projects, and a clean kitchen. She also writes a weekly meal plan newsletter (sign up here!). Eliz prefers to use cookbooks over online recipes, and has way too many in her collection. You can follow her on Instagram @itselizzz

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray

11: Vietnamese Food Any Day Dec 29, 2021

Show notes

After the holidays, we are very excited to eat something a little lighter. Andrea Nguyen's Vietnamese Food Any Day is full of delicious, accessible recipes with big, bright flavors. Join us, along with Melissa Chan, to discuss MSG, awesome recipes and how to pronounce "star anise."

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Recipes mentioned in this episode:

Curry scented grilled beef lettuce wraps (page 139)
Rice noodle salad bowl (page 197)
Nuoc cham dipping sauce (page 30)
Vibrant turmeric coconut rice (page 188)
Charred Brussels sprouts with coconut (page 170)
One-pot turmeric rice from NYT
Coconut-kissed chicken and chile (page 100)
Char siu chicken (page 97)
Gingery greens and shrimp soup (page 68)
Pressure-cooker vegetable stock (page 38)
Pressure-cooker chicken stock (page 36)
Instant Pot Sichuan spicy beef noodle soup (Viet World Kitchen)
Crispy caramelized pork crumbles (page 132)
Honey hoisin roast chicken and vegetables (page 104)
Umami garlic noodles with shiitake mushroom (page 194, also on NYT)
Smacked cucumber and shrimp salad (page 165)
Bahn mi sandwich (page 62)
Streetside corn and chile (page 51)
Hanoi style bacon and grilled pork rice noodle bowls (page 201)
Roasted cauliflower "wings" (page 48)
Herby oven-steamed eggs (page 147)
Caramel sauce (page 32)
Ginger garlic fish parcels (page 115)
No-churn Vietnamese coffee ice cream (page 210)
Cashew sesame brittle (page 217)

About our guest:

Melissa Chan is the Director of Product at The Wild. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her spouse and 4-year-old son. She’s on Instagram @chanface.

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 1/26/2022): Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi

10: Favorite Kitchen Tools Dec 15, 2021

Show notes

Pull out your fish spatulas, your timers, your whisks. Joined by Rebecca Ringquist, we round up our favorite tools that make cooking more satisfying and effective. Pick one up for a cook in your life before the holidays!

Our favorite kitchen tools:

Fish spatula
Rosle whisk/balloon whisk/silicone whisk/flat whisk
Edlund kitchen tongs
Kuhn Rikon peeler
Peanut butter spreader (similar here)
Tovolo flex-core spatulas
GIR spatula
Williams Sonoma metal measuring spoons/cups
Stainless steel bowls
Magnetic measuring spoons
Narrow measuring spoons
Thermostick Trio kitchen timer
Food52 Everyday napkins
Silicone basting brush
Plastic dough tub
Cleaning brush
Tiny cast-iron pan
Cuisinart toaster oven
Food processor
Mini food processor
KitchenAid mixer
Vitamix blender
Thermapen meat thermometer/candy thermometer
4th burner pot
Instant Pot

About our Guest:

Rebecca Ringquist is an artist and the designer and founder of Dropcloth Samplers. She’s an avid home cook based in Portland, Oregon. Find her on Instagram @dropcloth.

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 12/29/2021): Vietnamese Cooking Any Day by Andrea Nguyen

9: 100 Cookies Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we don our aprons and start our holiday baking season with Sarah Kieffer's 100 Cookies. We love the innovative cookie recipes in this book and we go over our hits and misses.

Resources mentioned in this podcast:

Recipes mentioned in this podcast:

Soft chocolate chip cookies (page 29)
Brown butter chocolate chip cookies (page 30)
Thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies (page 32)
Thin and crispy double chocolate cookies (page 35)
Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce)
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (Grand Central Baking Book)
Chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (AllRecipes)
Toasted sesame cookies (page 238)
Neapolitan cookies (page 200)
Smoky butterscotch cookies (page 156)
Snickerdoodles (page 48)
Ginger cookies (page 51)
Chocolate sugar cookies (page 42)
Bourbon sablés with chocolate (page 59)
Sugar cookies (page 246)
Rocky road cookies (page 237)
Raspberry rye cookies (page 121)
Brownie cookies (page 45)
Katharine Hepburn brownies (NYT)
White chocolate brownies (page 88)
Grapefruit cake bars (page 143)
Thumbprints (page 55)
Macarons (page 193)

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 12/29/2021): Vietnamese Cooking Any Day by Andrea Nguyen

8: Thanksgiving Greatest Hits Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we share our favorite Thanksgiving traditions and favorite recipes. We hope this episode inspires your holiday table this year.

Recipes mentioned in this podcast:

Alison Roman dry-brined turkey (NYT)
Simple roast turkey (Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well)
Stuffing (Smitten Kitchen cookbook)
Marbled pumpkin gingersnap tart (Smitten Kitchen)
Pecan pie (Hoosier Mama Pies)
Honey pumpkin pie (Simply Julia)
Pumpkin pie & all-butter crust (America's Test Kitchen)
Carrot pie (Six Seasons)
Cranberry lime tart (Bon Appetit)
Ginger pear cranberry cake (Snacking Cakes)
Vegan stuffing (NYT)
Brussels sprouts with labneh & pickled shallots (NYT)
Cornbread, sausage and dried fruit dressing (MyRecipes)
Spicy caramelized squash with lemon and hazelnuts (NYT)
Cranberry sauce (Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well)
Fluffy pumpkin pancakes (NYT)
Thanksgiving biscuits (Bon Appetit)
Mulled wine (Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well)
Eleven Madison Park granola (NYT)
Olive oil and maple granola (Genius Recipes)
Maple Old-fashioned (Now & Again)

About our guest:

Rebecca Ringquist is an artist and the designer and founder of Dropcloth Samplers. She's an avid home cook based in Portland, Oregon. Find her on Instagram @dropcloth.

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 12/1/2021): 100 Cookies, by Sarah Kieffer

7: Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Cookbook Club! Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and we are gearing up for this ultimate cooking holiday. Kirsten Collins joins us to chat about Sam Sifton's many opinions about what Thanksgiving should (and shouldn't) be.

Resources shared in this episode:

Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well
The United States of Thanksgiving (NYT, 2014)

Recipes we talked about from this cookbook:

Mashed potatoes (page 55)
Braised Brussels sprouts with buttered bread crumbs (page 64)
Quick turkey stock (page 19)
A simple roast turkey (page 24)
An even more simple roast turkey (page 26)
Herb-roasted turkey (page 27)
Fresh bread dressing (page 48)
Giblet gravy (page 73)
Basic cranberry sauce (page 75)
Creamed Brussels sprouts (page 63)
Maple-glazed carrots with black pepper (page 66)
Three-pepper sausage cornbread stuffing (page 50)
Scalloped potatoes (page 56)
Mulled wine (page 93)
Hot buttered rum (page 94)
Pumpkin pie (page 106)
Apple pie (page 97)
Apple pizza (page 108)

Other recipes we mentioned:

Buttered stuffing with celery and leeks (Alison Roman, NYT)
America's Test Kitchen pumpkin pie
Pumpkin chiffon pie

About our Guest

Kirsten Collins is the executive director of The Circus Project in Portland, Oregon.

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 12/1/2021): 100 Cookies, by Sarah Kieffer

6: Meatballs Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we dive into meatballs! How we make them, how we eat them and our favorite tips and tricks for making great ones.

Recipes mentioned in this podcast:

Rao's Meatballs
Braised ginger meatballs in coconut broth (Smitten Kitchen)
Meatballs marsala with wide egg noodles (Smitten Kitchen Every Day)
Sesame-spiced turkey meatballs (The Smitten Kitchen cookbook)
Turkey ricotta meatballs (Small Victories)
Banh mi meatballs (Salad for Dinner)
Lamb meatballs with couscous and English peas (Six Seasons)
Albondigas (Amá)
Curry-scented grilled beef (Vietnamese Food Any Day)
Turkey and zucchini burgers (Jerusalem)
Meatballs with any meat (New York Times)
Tomato-glazed meatloaves with brown butter mashed potatoes (Smitten Kitchen)
Dad's Tex-Mex meatballs (Simply Julia)

Resources from this episode:

Killing it, by Camas Davis
The Food Lab, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

About our guest:

Melissa Chan is the Director of Product at The Wild. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her spouse and 4-year-old son. She's on Instagram @chanface.

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 11/3/2021): Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well by Sam Sifton

5: Indian Instant Pot Cookbook Oct 06, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Cookbook Club! This time we are joined by Kirsten Collins, and talking about The Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, by Urvashi Pitre. We love this book and its easy, full-of-flavor Indian recipes.

Resources shared in this episode:

The Indian Instant Pot Cookbook
Urvashi Pitre's website, Two Sleevers

Recipes we talked about in this episode:

Punjabi lobia, black eyed peas with spinach (page 60)
Garam masala (page 24)
Ginger garlic paste (page 31)
Murgh Makhani, butter chicken (page 98)
Palak paneer (page 88)
Tomato coconut soup (page 78)
Lamb Rogan Josh, lamb curry (page 118)
Lamb Dum Biryani, lamb and rice casserole (page 119)
Kheema Nariyal Saag, ground beef coconut curry and spinach (page 112)
Aloo gobi, potatoes and cauliflower (page 68)
Bundh Gobi Mutter, cabbage and peas (page 74)

About our Guest

Kirsten Collins is the executive director of The Circus Project in Portland, Oregon.

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 11/3/2021): Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well by Sam Sifton

4: Kid-friendly meals Sep 22, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, we talk about cooking for our kids. We share some of our favorite tips for keeping kids fed, things our picky kids like to eat and how we make home cooking and parenthood work together at home.

Resources shared in this episode:

Ellyn Satter & the Division of Responsibility
The Lazy Genius & the meal formula
Lunchbots lunchboxes
Didn’t I just feed you? podcast

Recipes mentioned in this podcast:

Dutch baby from NYT
Roasted red pepper, almond and garlic dip from Epicurious
Turkey ricotta meatballs, from Small Victories
Lamb rogan josh, from the Indian Instant Pot cookbook

Cookbooks we mentioned:

Salt Fat Acid Heat, by Samin Nosrat
Six Seasons, by Joshua McFadden
Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, by Urvashi Pitre
Sheet Pan Suppers, by Molly Gilbert
One Pan and Done, by Molly Gilbert
Small Victories, by Julia Turshen
Simply Julia, by Julia Turshen

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 10/6/2021): The Indian Instant Pot, by Urvashi Pitre

3: Six Seasons Sep 08, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to Cookbook Club! We are diving in to Six Seasons, a huge tome of recipes from “the vegetable whisperer,” chef Joshua McFadden, with Martha Holmberg. We talk about our favorite go-tos from the book, whether a chef-written cookbook is harder to cook from and we touch on the controversy surrounding McFadden.

Resources shared in this episode:

Recipes we talked about in this episode:

Carrot pie in a pecan crust (Page 297)
Parsnip, date and hazelnut loaf cake with Meyer lemon glaze (Page 361)
Raw asparagus salad with breadcrumbs, walnuts and mint (Page 73)
Couscous with English peas, apricots and lamb meatballs (Page 88)
Braised beef with lots and lots of onions (Page 356)
Beet slaw with pistachios and raisins (Page 133)
Celery salad with dates, almonds and parmigiano (Page 145)
The kale salad that started it all (Page 309)
Kale sauce with any noodle (Page 312)
Grilled radishes with dates, apples and radish tops (Page 115)
Roasted beets, avocado and sunflower seeds (Page 134)
Grilled eggplant with tomatoes, torn croutons and lots of herbs (Page 236)
Tomato, melon and hot chile salad with burrata (Page 265)
Israeli-spiced tomatoes, yogurt sauce and chickpeas (Page 266)
Raw Brussels sprouts with lemon, anchovy, walnuts and pecorino (Page 284)
Farro and roasted carrot salad with apricots, pistachios and whipped feta (Page 290)

Join our Cookbook Club!

Our Instagram, @cookbookclubshow
E-mail us: cookbookclubshow@gmail.com
Find Renee and Sara on Instagram: @hipchickdigs and @realtor_saragray
Cook along with us! Next cookbook episode (releasing 10/6/2021): Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, by Urvashi Pitre

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