Break out the knives and get that fire and oven going–this week, we’re all about cooking! We begin by talking about our first memories of food and move on to whether or not cooking was an important thing in our households growing up. (Spoiler: it was!) We talk about family recipes passed down through generations, and then talk about the first thing we learned how to cook. But this episode isn’t all about the past–we talk about what we like to cook now and who does the cooking in our households these days. Then we get a little philosophical, asking if different kinds of foods can bring people together and give us a better understanding of the world. (Spoiler: we think so!)
In the middle of it all, we talk about restaurants: restaurants we’ve worked in, our favorite restaurants, and suggestions for some good places to eat if you ever find yourself in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. While singing the praises of restaurants, we’d be remiss to not mention our favorite guilty pleasures when it comes to going out and grabbing a bite to eat. Some of our heroes worked in restaurants…we talk about celebrity chefs before moving on to the effect they had on our cooking. And that’s not all that affected our cooking–we talk about television and the Internet’s effect on what we like to cook.
In the final stretch, we talk about our favorite late-night snacks, and devote some time to the best things we cook. There’s a little bit about the last truly wonderful thing we’ve each eaten, and we wrap up the episode on imaginary death row, talking about what we would have as last meals.
It’s a fun episode, all about one of our favorite things: cooking and eating!
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In this episode, when discussing recipes handed down from generation to generation, Christopher talks about making Italian fig cookies. They’re a bit different than most fig cookies–this is what he’s talking about:
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Shawn, I consider myself a connoisseur of chicken fried steak, sounds like you do too. Upon my second bite at Babe’s, I wept. I heard Survivor singing ‘The Search Is Over.’ Its a dang good chicky fry, I tell you what. So far, still the best.
Deacon —
I’m on it. 😀
Shawn needs to hit Babe’s one day before coming over to record. We can let him nap on the couch, and when he comes up from the experience, we can record a show about life-changing moments…
Seriously, I have no idea how I lived in the area since before Babe’s was even around and never eaten there. Now, I won’t eat there, but there was a time I loved chicken fried steak. Can’t believe I never tried it when I ate meat…
Christopher already knows I’m a fellow vegan. 🙂 My husband is the opposite of vegan, and I cook for both of us. Every mealtime requires cooking two dishes. It’s a challenge.
Like Shawn, I’m a big recipe hybridizer. I consider it a cooking requirement. When I cook for myself, my goals are healthfulness, then taste, and trailing far behind – presentation. A few of the dishes I cook for myself look pretty gross – an odd conglomeration of odds and ends mixed with different herbs and spice. Sometimes my husband won’t even look at my plate. He’s a picky eater with a sensitive stomach.
Hearts and gizzards? Growing up, I thought my family (my grandmother) was the only one who did that. Yeah, as a child I ate a few of those. Meat is meat, IMO.
I love Thai food! Same for Ayurvedic food – I used to work in an Ayurvedic restaurant. The tomato is my overall favorite. Also: hot and spicy salsa, dahl, and grilled veggies, especially potatoes, onions, and garlic. Anything garlic. 🙂
Every time I see those fig cookies, I’m more convinced I need to make them. Did you know figs technically aren’t vegan? I don’t fret over it, though, the non-vegan-ness of figs happens without human intervention.
CMS: I’m a vegetarian these days. Mostly vegan, but if I’m traveling and have no options, or if I’m someplace with friends that has no vegan option, I’ll go with something vegetarian. The only non-veg thing I’ll consume is Guinness.
When I cook, I think i shoot for taste first, and then presentation and health. If it’s something I’m making for just Cynthia and myself, presentation isn’t a biggie, but I still shoot for it all. Like you, meat has always been meat to me. I know people are appalled by what some cultures eat, but…if you’re going to eat chicken from a battery cage, why be appalled by a “cute” animal raised as food in a battery cage? When I ate meat, I’d have eaten dog or anything else you placed before me. It’s always fascinated me that some animals are deemed too cute to eat.
I learned something new about figs today!
I learned something new about Guinness! I’m not going to fret over it, as isinglass is a byproduct of the fishing industry. They don’t kill the fish for the isinglass, the kill the fish for the meat, then use the isinglass. In my opinion, if you’re going to kill an animal anyway, try to use every part of it.