Mailbag Part 4

Note from Kenji:"Hey everyone. It's Kenji, and I've got something really fun to share with you today. I was recently a guest for a live taping of The Sporkful. It's a podcast I've been on many times before, and it's hosted by my old friend Dan Pashman. We were joined by the legendary Comic Judy Gold, and we're dropping the episode here so that you can check it out. We got into a whole lot of fun stuff, including the state of the bagel and babies eating straight up butter."Since launching in 2010, The Sporkful has won 3 James Beard Awards & 2 Webby Awards. It's been named one of the 100 Best Podcasts of All Time by Time Magazine for its use of humor & humanity to approach food from varying angles, including: identity, culture, science, history & economics. Not to mention, the lengthy debates on the best way to layer a PB&J. Not for foodies, The Sporkful is for eaters. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In their last episode before book-writing hiatus, Deb and Kenji take your questions, about truly satisfying turkey burgers, no recipe recipes, the correct order of operations for burger, fries, and shake at home, and more. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Deb has fifteen recipes for meatballs on Smitten Kitchen, and exactly one for a meat burger. That does not mean Deb lacks for opinions about burgers, oh no no — she goes head to head with Mr. Burger Lab himself, who has published dozens of burger recipes and guides. Kenji and Deb are in agreement about the one burger type that anyone can make at home just as well as a restaurant. Plus, a special announcement.Recipes Mentioned: Fake Shake Burger (Smitten Kitchen) The Burger Lab: The World's Best Burger for a Single Man (or Woman) (Serious Eats) Classic Smashed Burgers (Serious Eats) Oklahoma-Style Onion Burgers Recipe (Serious Eats) Mastering the Art of Burger Blending with Eight Cuts of Beef (Serious Eats) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When is it OK to yuck someone’s yum? Garlic and ginger hacks. How to turn your kid into a lifelong cook. Kenji and Deb answer your questions in another mailbag. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Eggs Benedict should really be called Eggs Benedict Arnold, because it will betray any shortcomings you have as a home cook. You should give it a go anyway. (Kenji: “You CAN and SHOULD make Eggs Benedict at home.”) Why? It’s a dish that all but the best restaurants get right, and you have all but three and a half minutes to shovel it in your mouth before the window closes for the perfect bite. So you may as well perfect it at home.What does perfect look like? Each element is prepared to its ideal temperature at the exact same time. Yolks “a river of liquid gold” while whites are perfectly set (and shaped like a “chaos mop” if you’re like Deb). English muffins are fork split, not sliced. Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion, which means you are trying to mix two ingredients that don’t want to be mixed, so yeah, you are literally fighting nature. Who will break first, you or the sauce? A delicious showdown for the ages.Recipes Mentioned: Foolproof Eggs Benedict (Serious Eats) Easy Poached Eggs (Serious Eats) How to Make Eggs Benedict the Classic Way (Kenji’s Cooking Show) How to Make Eggs Benedict for a Crowd (Kenji’s Cooking Show) How to Poach an Egg, Smitten Kitchen-Style (Smitten Kitchen) Spinach and Smashed Egg Toast (Smitten Kitchen Old-Fashioned, No-Knead English Muffins Recipe (Serious Eats) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Crisp on the outside, custardy on the inside – this week we’re talking French Toast with special guest Christopher Kimball (Milk Street). Chris joins Kenji and Deb to banter about bread for longer than any podcast ever has (not fact checked) – and how each of them perfects this classic breakfast dish. Plus, Kenji dispels a myth about smoke points! Recipes Mentioned: Carmelized Cinnamon Sugar French Toast (Smitten Kitchen Keepers) Perfect quick and easy french toast (Serious Eats) French Toast, Perfected (Milk Street) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Deb and Kenji are taking a break this week. Please enjoy this classic episode from our friends at Sidedoor, "America’s Unknown Celebrity Chef". For more information, visit Sidedoor's episode page, and subscribe to Sidedoor on your favorite podcast player.****************************** When Lena Richard cooked her first chicken on television, she beat Julia Child to the screen by over a decade. At a time when most African American women cooks worked behind swinging kitchen doors, Richard claimed her place as a culinary authority, broadcasting in the living rooms of New Orleans’s elite white families. She was an entrepreneur, educator, author, and an icon – and her legacy lives on in her recipes. Today: her improbable rise to prominence, and her famous gumbo. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If the only hummus you’ve ever had came from a cold tub procured at a supermarket, yeah...you haven’t really had hummus. Homemade hummus, served warm, is an experience unto itself, and 1000% a better snack than a dusty protein bar. Deb and Kenji also tell us how they really feel about flavored hummus. Recipes Mentioned: Ethereally Smooth Hummus (Smitten Kitchen) The Food Lab’s Science of Great Hummus (Serious Eats) Hummus Heaped with Tomatoes and Cucumbers (Smitten Kitchen) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

You’re really only technically eating a vegetable with broccoli cheddar soup — it is insistently not health food, but a giant middle finger to whoever invented the four food groups. It is a “you sure about that?” to the likes of President George HW Bush, who famously and controversially banned broccoli from Air Force One. Plus, we get to the bottom of broccoli vs broccoli rabe vs broccolini, and a broccoli dish to impress.Recipes Mentioned: Broccoli Cheddar Soup (Serious Eats) Broccoli Cheddar Soup (Smitten Kitchen) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Crispy chicken cutlets are endlessly adaptable to taste, so it’s no wonder they are a universal crowd pleaser. From Austrian schnitzel to Japanese katsu to Deb’s mother-in-law’s recipe that leaves out a classic ingredient, there are endless permutations of chicken, flour, egg, breadcrumbs + ??? to satisfy the pickiest eater (and most discerning home cook).Recipes Mentioned: Tonkatsu or Chicken Katsu (Serious Eats) Crispiest Chicken Cutlets (Smitten Kitchen) 5-Ingredient Fried Chicken Sandwiches (Serious Eats) Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices