The Sip and Feast Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Podcast 38 – Are Food Delivery Services Ruining America? Feb 17, 2024

Show notes

With the hustle and bustle of our every day, it can be tempting to turn to food delivery services when we’re not in the mood to leave the house to get groceries or take-out, however, these often come with high delivery costs, increased prices on menu items, and other fees that yield a degraded experience for the consumer. Watch On YouTube https://youtu.be/P5frmZpexDc The Downside of Delivery Gone are the days of the in-house pizza delivery services where you were promised a hot pizza in 30 minutes. Today we as consumers are faced with the choice of cooking at home, ordering take-out/drive-thru and picking it up ourselves, or relying on one of the food delivery service companies. I’ve yet to have a positive experience with any of the latter. While I agree certain use cases justify their existence, I’d rather abstain from relying on them entirely. And I’m not alone in my sentiment. There are numerous articles all over the internet and many Reddit threads where folks express similar feelings. One Reddit thread, in particular, covers the marked-up prices and the impact on consumers, the toll these services take on both the restaurant owners and the drivers, and the dissatisfaction of shareholders who have invested in companies that aren’t profitable. Use cases aside, I stand by the fact that we are better off making our food at home or getting out of the house to pick up the food ourselves. Resources Reddit Post "DoorDash and UberEats are a lose/lose/lose/lose for everyone involved" Cannoli recipe Reginelle cookie recipe If you enjoyed the Food Delivery Services Episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 37 – The 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Cooking Feb 10, 2024

Show notes

The old adage "hindsight is 20/20" couldn’t be more true when it comes to cooking. There are so many things I had to learn the hard way and rather than gatekeep that knowledge, I’m here to share with you the 10 things I wish I knew when I started cooking. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/d3q_JlwNDJw Mise en place While my list of things I wish I knew goes beyond just 10 items, I will say that there is one tip that comes first and foremost. Mise en place, or the preparation and arrangement of ingredients before cooking is crucial to success. It allows you to be better organized so you can efficiently cook like a pro. This is a concept that’s taught in culinary school, but you don’t need to be a classically trained chef to do this at home. At the start of every YouTube video I go over my ingredients, my mise en place, and this allows me to effectively demonstrate how to prepare the food. In this episode we discuss the importance of mise en place along with other cooking tips I wish I knew before I started cooking. Topics include the importance of keeping a clean kitchen, how to use stainless steel pans, rolling citrus to maximize juice, why pasta water is an essential ingredient, and how reading a recipe through to the end can make a difference. Top tips In almost every recipe post I include a "Top tips" section that addresses the needs tips specific to that recipe, and often I'll include the tips we talk about in this episode. If you've been following along with our recipes, you're likely familiar with the top tips section and I hope have found them useful! I encourage you to peruse the top tips section whenever making one of my recipes as you'll find bits of info there that can really help elevate your recipes! Resources Beef Bourguignon recipe Italian lentil soup recipe Prime rib recipe Buffalo wings recipe If you enjoyed the 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Cooking Episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 36 – The 5 Recipes You Need To Make For The Super Bowl Feb 03, 2024

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When it comes to Super Bowl food, there are plenty to choose from but only a few that are 100% non-negotiable. We discuss our Top 5 must-haves for Super Bowl, and why you should opt for homemade over take-out. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/ZvxektwJlYk While Super Bowl Sunday is mostly about football, commercials, and the halftime show, we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge it as a "food holiday". When we think of this event, a few items really stand out: wings, beer, pizza, and dip! But with so many choices, it can be hard to narrow it down to a manageable few, but we're here to do that for you. The Symbiotic Nature of Wings and Football Before we dive in, it's important to address the elephant in the room, Buffalo Wings. Wings are the quintessential Super Bowl snack and land at the very top of our list of must-have Super Bowl foods. Prior to the invention of the Buffalo Wing, Americans typically purchased chickens in whole-bird form and there was little demand for the wings. Then, in 1964 at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, their staff decided to toss some wings (typically used for stock) with hot sauce and butter, and for a while the wings were popular in the bar scene, but it wasn't until Super Bowl I in 1967 that the demand for wings sky rocketed transforming them into a "sporting event tradition". And while Buffalo style wings are our #1 pick, garlic parmesan wings and scarpariello wings are close behind. More game-day grub In addition to chicken wings, there are a few other must-have Super Bowl foods and these include pizza, or something made with pizza dough, such as stromboli, dips such as spinach artichoke dip, cannellini dip, or guacamole, and chili. And these are all better when made at home; no overpriced food, no bad delivery experiences, no wondering if the food will even show up! Resources It All Began with a Football: How the Super Bowl Shaped the Chicken Industry, USDA Grandma Pizza Recipe Italian Hero Recipe Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe Cast Iron Pizza Recipe Chili Colorado Recipe Pepperoni Pinwheel Recipe If you enjoyed the Top 5 Super Bowl Foods Episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 35 – Safe and Super Risky First Date Foods Jan 29, 2024

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A first date is all about making a good impression and assessing whether or not there's a connection that warrants a second date. Since food is an integral part of how we connect on the human level, the first date often involves dinner. But are there some meals that should be avoided? Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/p6JGMqZf2js When thinking of foods to avoid on a first date, I think of overly messy ones, that require you to wear a bib or use a toothpick. While some of my favorite foods, like buffalo wings, are on our list of foods to avoid on a first date, I will say that if you do make a mess with your food on the first date and still get a second date, there likely was a connection there! Best and worst first-date foods? While neither of us has been on a "first-date" in ages, Tara and I reminisce on some of the foods we ate on our first few dates, which included gyros and calzone. While I impressed her with eating one, I repulsed her with another and she isn't shy to remind me of it often! lol A recent discussion prompted us to discuss this topic here on the podcast and hash out further which are some of the best and worst first-date foods. For example, pasta with easy-to-eat shapes, such as penne or rigatoni, are easier to eat than spaghetti. Steak, beef stews, short ribs, or anything else that's both bite-sized and delicious are also great options, while messier foods such as a whole lobster, or buffalo wings, or anything requiring you to wear a bib or use wet napkins may be deal-breakers. Resources Pasta aglio e olio recipe Pasta Norcina recipe Baked chicken and potatoes Pasta Bolognese recipe Stuffed Mushroom recipe Steak au poivre recipe Braised short ribs recipe Beef Bourguignon recipe Garlic Parmesan wings recipe Potato frittata recipe Sweet potato frittata recipe Rigatoni alla vodka recipe If you enjoyed the Best and Worst First Date Food Episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 34 – What’s The Best – Nonstick, Stainless, or Cast Iron? Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

When it comes to cookware, choosing what's best can be intimidating. Whether you're using nonstick, stainless, cast iron, or another type of cookware, there are pros and cons. Here we explore each use cases and discuss which are our favorites. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/SDuVgqzTsnc Through the years I've been asked repeatedly which type of pans work best. While there are several to choose from, for this discussion we've focused on the "Big 3", cast iron, stainless steel, and non-stick. A pan for every need While I can speak for hours on this topic, in a nutshell, I prefer to have a few different pans on hand depending on the ingredients I'm working with. If I want to get a good sear on chicken thighs and good development of fond (I said it!), I'll use a stainless, whereas if I want to fry a few over-easy eggs, I'll opt for the nonstick. And cast iron has plenty of uses too. It's incredibly durable making it ideal for dishes that start on the stovetop and move to the oven, like a potato frittata. It's great for many other dishes as well, such as cast iron pan pizza, peach blueberry crisps, and many more. But they all have a downside! Cast iron isn't fun to clean or maintain, stainless if not heated properly can cause ingredients to stick, and non-stick pans are far less durable and have shorter lives. In this episode, we take a deep dive into each of these types of pans, as well as others including aluminum and carbon steel, discussing use cases, pros, cons, and more. Resources Assassin's Pasta Recipe Sicilian Pizza Recipe Sunday Sauce Recipe If you enjoyed the Nonstick vs. Stainless vs. Cast Iron Episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 33 -The Secret Weapons Every Cook Should Have On Hand Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

When it comes to curating your culinary arsenal, there are a few food secret weapons every home cook should have on hand. Vinegars, olive oils, condiments, and more can truly amplify your food and take your dishes from basic to amazing! Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/Y7iTlC41Tko Every good cook has a food secret weapon or two they rely on to take their meals up a notch. Whether it's a particular spice, a dash of hot sauce, or a condiment that's used unconventionally, a little bit can make a difference in a dish. In this episode we explore some of my favorite secret ingredients and how I use them to make my dishes stand out. Secret ingredients While many of my food secret ingredients may be familiar to the average person, the method I use to employ them is less obvious. For example, everyone knows water is an essential part of making pasta, but what many don't realize is how the water the pasta is cooked in, the pasta water, is also a key ingredient for many dishes, including the Roman pastas like cacio e pepe, and spaghetti carbonara. It also can revitalize any cream-based pasta that has dried out. Its uses are plenty and I always make it a point to save it for future use since it truly is a food secret weapon! There are so many other secret weapons when it comes to food, such as vinegar, lemon juice, wine, different types of salt, olive oil, and more. Listen along as we explore these ingredients in greater detail. Resources Lemon Caper Linguine Recipe Assassin's Pasta Recipe Cherry Pepper Spread Recipe Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Recipe Beef Marsala Recipe Caesar Salad Recipe If you enjoyed the Food Secret Weapons episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 32 – Why Are Food Memories So Powerful? Jan 08, 2024

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There is much to be said about the power of food memories: their ability to transcend time and space, their emotional evocation, and the desire to recreate them all impact who we are as humans and individuals. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/Cnq5Zb1atXo Oxford defines nostalgia as "a sentimental longing for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations". For me, there is perhaps no greater trigger of nostalgia than food and the smell of food. Food memories have played an integral role in who I am, and who Tara is, and serve as a strong foundation for Sip and Feast. But we are not unique in this respect, and while preparing for this episode we found there is a bit of science involved. Decoding food memories I recently read an article in the BBC about the power of food memories in which the author, Susanna Zaraysky, talks about the strong feelings experienced when eating the same berries she enjoyed as a toddler in the former USSR. She too was intrigued by the power of food memories and sought out Susan Krauss Whitbourne, professor of psychology at U Mass Amherst, to explore this a bit more. "Food memories involve very basic, nonverbal, areas of the brain that can bypass your conscious awareness. This is why you can have strong emotional reactions when you eat a food that arouses those deep unconscious memories. You can't put those memories into words, but you know there is something that the food triggers deep within your past", Whitbourne told Zaraysky. In this episode we discuss our own food memories, from Ziggy's Deli's Texas Style Chicken, to the smell of yeasty bread, and from fried zucchini to lemon Italian ices, and the power they have over us to this day. Resources Why food memories are so powerful BBC article Shrimp Fra Diavolo Recipe Spaghetti alla Nerano Recipe Hungarian Goulash Recipe Marinara Sauce Recipe Baked Chicken and Potatoes If you enjoyed the Why Are Food Memories So Powerful episode, leave a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 31 – The Best Types of Food To Kick Off 2024 Jan 01, 2024

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For many, a new year represents a clean slate and an opportunity to shift our focus to eating more mindfully and frugally. Here we explore some recipes that may help you stick to your goals in 2024! Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/M2Jjhi771Ys December is a month of indulgence. Making merry usually includes consuming sugary treats and alcoholic beverages, and spending a bit more money than we're accustomed to. So when the new year rolls around we find ourselves with an opportunity to hit the reset button, focus on what we're putting into our bodies, and what we're taking out of our wallets. Recipes for the new year Planning is an important part of reaching any goal, so thinking about some of the recipes you'll make in the next few weeks can help you stay on track. Soups and chilis are great for this time because they're easy to make, can be made in bulk, and taste great when left over. Some of our favorite recipes include split pea soup, escarole and bean soup, and minestrone. Frittatas paired with a salad are also a budget-friendly and healthy meal. Try incorporating a different frittata into your weekly rotation! Seafood also comes in handy when wanting to eat a bit lighter and ingredients like cod, salmon, and shrimp are all easy to prepare and for the most part can be ready in about 30 minutes. Eating lentils on New Year's Day I'd be remiss not to mention lentils when discussing the new year. Italians and Italian-Americans along with other nationalities believe eating lentils on the first day of the new year (some even start at midnight) can bring wealth and prosperity in the coming year. Some of our favorite lentil recipes include Italian Lentil Soup and Sausage Lentil Soup. Both are budget-friendly and so easy to make! Resources Pasta e Piselli Recipe Tuscan White Bean Soup Recipe Pasta Fagioli Recipe Spicy Sausage and Potato Kale Soup Recipe Beef Barley SoupRecipe Classic Chili Recipe White Chicken Chili Recipe Salmon Oreganta Recipe Cod Piccata Recipe Potato Frittata Recipe Sweet Potato Frittata Recipe If you enjoyed the Best Foods to Kick Off 2024 episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 30 – The Best And Worst Food Trends Of 2023 Dec 24, 2023

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As this year comes to an end we were compelled to reflect on some of the best and worst food trends of 2023. Some trends were downright awful while others piqued our curiosity. Here we explore the ones we'll bring forward into 2024 and the ones we'll gladly leave behind! Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/XGh5vS1zZ1w Like years past, 2023 was full of all sorts of trends, some good and even more not-so-good. Regarding food trends, 2023 saw a rise of consuming organ meat, restaurant surcharges, and an increase in non-alcoholic beverage offerings. In this episode, Tara and I explore some of the best and worst food trends of 2023 and make a few of our own predictions for 2024. Food trends 2023 Many of this year's food trends were influenced by TikTok and other social platforms. For example, The Liver King's popularity contributed to the rise in consuming organ meat, while other influencers began eating caviar topped everything. This year also saw the rise and fall of "butter boards", cooking on the counter, and massive upcharges for broths marketed as "bone broths". Spoiler alert - it's way cheaper to make your own stock or broth at home. The overarching worst trend of 2023, one that applies to more than just food, is rapid inflation and everything becoming more expensive. One of the trends we were happy to see was the rise in non-alcoholic beverage offerings from various companies, such as Athletic Brewing, Ghia, Seedlip, and others. Tara and I have our own predictions for 2024 food trends and we'll have to use this episode as a time capsule to see if we were right! What are some of your best and worst food trends of 2023? Resources Sip and Feast Recipe for Beef Stock Sip and Feast Recipe for Chicken Stock Sip and Feast Recipe for Steak au Poivre Tasting Table Article on Food Trends 2023 If you enjoyed The Best and Worst Food Trends 2023 episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

Podcast 29 – Exploring Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Christmas Traditions Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

Across the world Christmas traditions differ from one country to the next. Some are super cozy, while others are bizarre and sometimes frightening! Here we explore many of these traditions and discuss which ones we love most. Watch on YouTube https://youtu.be/QQjcerCIwwA When a listener asked us to elaborate on our family's Christmas traditions, we took a step back and examined this question from a global standpoint. Christmas is celebrated worldwide, and many cultures observe this holiday in their unique way. From the German "pickle in the tree", to the poinsettia origin story from Mexico, we discuss some of the world's most interesting traditions, as well as a few of our own. Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Christmas Traditions Many of the world's traditions center around feelings of gratitude, love, family, and coziness, while others wander into darker realms. In this episode, we discuss super cozy traditions like the Icelandic Jolabokaflod which takes place on Christmas Eve and involves exchanging books, chocolate, and special beer with loved ones followed by an evening of reading, drinking, and enjoying sweets. On the other end of the spectrum, is the truly frightening legend of the Krampus, or the anti-Santa, who's known to wander the streets in search of badly behaved children. We also try to answer the age-old question, "Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?". While Tara and I may disagree on some things, we both concur that family traditions such as driving around to look at Christmas lights, our daughter Sam's hot cocoa bar, and baking cookies are at the top of our cozy list. Resources Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe Italian Almond Cookie Recipe S Cookie Recipe Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Prime Rib aka Standing Rib Roast Recipe Horseradish Sauce Recipe If you enjoyed the Christmas Traditions Episode, leave us a comment below and let us know! We love your questions. Please send them to podcast@sipand11111feast.com (remove the 11111 for our contact). There’s no question not worth asking. If you enjoy our weekly podcast, support us on Patreon and you will get 2 more bonus episodes each month! Thanks for listening! For a complete list of all podcast episodes, visit our podcast episode page.

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