KCRW's Good Food

KCRW's Good Food Evan Kleiman hosts Good Food on KCRW 89.9 FM and KCRW.com. She is also a noted cookbook author and Evan Kleiman hosts Good Food on 89.9 KCRW and KCRW.com.

She is also a noted cookbook author and chef.

Please check kcrw.com/wildfires for regularly updated resources on food aid.
01/10/2025

Please check kcrw.com/wildfires for regularly updated resources on food aid.

For decades, the bond between humans and plants has fascinated Michael Pollan. More recently, that interest led him into...
01/07/2025

For decades, the bond between humans and plants has fascinated Michael Pollan. More recently, that interest led him into the world of mind-altering psychedelics. In his latest book, “How To Change Your Mind,” he explores their therapeutic potential. As part of his research, Pollan experimented with both L*D and psilocybin.

“I think we will come to understand that there’s a common denominator to the kinds of disorders psychedelics address effectively. It does seem to increase the plasticity of the brain and allows us to give up old narratives that are destructive, whether behaviorally or mentally, and write some new ones,” Pollan says.

He discusses the book on “Life Examined.”

🍄 Click link in bio to hear the conversation

Graphic by: Gabby Quarante/KCRW

*d

Go behind the scenes of “Omnivore,” René Redzepi’s Apple TV+ series. Each of the eight episodes examines the complicated...
01/06/2025

Go behind the scenes of “Omnivore,” René Redzepi’s Apple TV+ series. Each of the eight episodes examines the complicated history of one foodstuff — pork, corn, salt, etc. — and the journey it takes to get to our tables.

Rene talked to Elvis Mitchell of “The Treatment” how growing up on a farm informed his approach to cooking and how making the series affected his consumption of everyday items like bananas and coffee. He also unpacks the concept of “eating the weather,” something he tries to do at his famed Copenhagen restaurant, Noma.

🔗 Click link in bio to hear the conversation

📸 Photo: Courtesy of Apple TV+

The turkey that many of us spend so much time preparing at Thanksgiving is a totally different animal than the wild turk...
12/30/2024

The turkey that many of us spend so much time preparing at Thanksgiving is a totally different animal than the wild turkey. Native to North America, “They are one of the oddest looking birds,” says Austin-based chef, restaurateur, author, and hunter Jesse Griffiths.

They roost up in trees. They’re very vocal. You probably know the turkey gobble. “As far as their personalities, their behavior, they go anywhere from simple, maybe downright dumb or making mistakes, to incredibly clever and frustrating from a hunter’s perspective,” Jesse says.

His favorite way to prepare wild turkey? Fry it! He says it’s a completely different experience than eating a standard turkey.

“Being born and raised in Texas, fried turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, and some greens and a little bit of vinegary hot sauce is one of my absolute favorite meals on this earth,” Jesse says.

🦃Click link in bio to get Jesse’s Fried Turkey recipe, with brine!

📸: Sam Averett, Jodi Horton

It’s cookie season! Want some exciting new cookie recipes to try? Check out Ben Mims’s new book, “Crumbs.” It’s an encyc...
12/29/2024

It’s cookie season! Want some exciting new cookie recipes to try? Check out Ben Mims’s new book, “Crumbs.” It’s an encyclopedic book with cookie recipes from around the world.

🇭🇷 peach-shaped wedding cookies from Croatia
🇸🇳 Senegal’s Cinq Centime
🇸🇪 Swedish Chokladsnittar
🇮🇷 Persian raisin cookies
🇪🇸 pine nut-covered macaroons from Spain
🇮🇳 Atta Biscuits from India
🇺🇸 American chocolate chip cookies

“I have been obsessed with cookies since I was a child,” says . “At the same time, I’m always way more obsessed with history. Why certain things are shaped the way they are, why is this ingredient in there, why is this more labor intensive?”

🍪 Click link in bio for Ben’s recipe for Chilenitos, which are Meringue-Coated Dulce de Leche Butter Cookies from Chile 🇨🇱

📸: Simon Bajada

Agriculture is facing a huge generational shift. The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture reports that the average age of far...
12/27/2024

Agriculture is facing a huge generational shift. The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture reports that the average age of farmers in this country is 58 with organic farmers trending slightly younger at 52 years old. However, 14% of farmers in this country are over the age of 75.

Lindsey Beatrice points out that the US doesn’t have enough young farmers to replace the older generation. Many millennials looking to tend land don’t come from farming backgrounds and are saddled with student and other kinds of debt.

In parts of Colorado, Beatrice found young people coming up with creative solutions to access land.

🚜 Click link in bio to hear more

📸: Courtesy of Speedwell Farm

Having eaten his way around China, Michael Zee of decided to recreate his favorite breakfasts at home. The result is th...
12/26/2024

Having eaten his way around China, Michael Zee of decided to recreate his favorite breakfasts at home. The result is the gorgeous book, “Zao Fan: Breakfast of China.” It offers stories and recipes about the country’s diverse morning meals.

He describes the Xizhou Baba, a sort of round, filled pancake with crunchy skin, pork scratching, and a fried egg embedded into the dough, which is flavored with seasoned lard.

“It has that trifecta of a bit of protein, a bit of carbohydrate, a bit of salt, a bit of chili. It is just this delicious morsel in the morning. They’re not so big but they’re intense. One is enough,” Michael says.

🎧Tap link in bio to get Michael’s recipes for Tianshui Mian (Sweet Water Noodles) AND Fuzhi Jiangyou (Infused Sichuan Soy Sauce)

📸: Michael Zee

With dreams of becoming a pastry chef, Nicola Lamb landed in New York at the height of the cronut craze.For anyone who l...
12/25/2024

With dreams of becoming a pastry chef, Nicola Lamb landed in New York at the height of the cronut craze.

For anyone who loves to bake, there’s always the pull between making a surefire hit or a comforting dish we’ve prepared countless times before and the excitement of making something new. The latter often requires learning new techniques or acquiring specialized knowledge that will inform our baking practice. The beauty of Nicola Lamb’s cookbook, Sift: The Elements of Great Baking, is the breadth of knowledge she gives us in the service of better bakes. Her substack, Kitchen Projects, is also fantastic.

🔗 Click link in bio for Nicola’s Plum and Mascarpone Karpatka recipe

📸: Sam A. Harris, Lin Pei Pei

December 26 - January 1 marks the celebration of Kwanzaa. This year, we’re also blessed with a new edition of “A Kwanzaa...
12/24/2024

December 26 - January 1 marks the celebration of Kwanzaa. This year, we’re also blessed with a new edition of “A Kwanzaa Keepsake and Cookbook: Celebrating the Holiday with Family, Community, and Tradition.” Written by culinary historian and originally published in 1995, it aims to educate readers on the holiday’s traditions.

“The whole holiday is guided by what are called, in Swahili, the Nguzo Saba, or the seven principles,” Dr. Harris explains. They are

✴️ Umoja — unity
✴️ Kujichagulia — self determination
✴️ Ujima — collective work and responsibility
✴️ Ujamaa — cooperative economics
✴️ Nia — purpose
✴️ Kuumba — creativity
✴️ Imani — faith

And of course, there’s food!

🥬 Click link in bio for Dr. Harris’s Home-Style Collards with Spicy Vinegar recipe

📸: Shutterstock, J. Pinderhughes

🥧 We don’t spend enough time talking about savory pies. And no one knows them better than chef .Growing up in a working ...
12/24/2024

🥧 We don’t spend enough time talking about savory pies. And no one knows them better than chef .

Growing up in a working class family in Detroit, the half-Polish, half-Mexican chef recalls that when his grandmother lived with them, a pot of chicken soup with homemade noodles was always bubbling on the stove. Leftovers were transformed into pies.

He has a new book “Meat Pies: An Emerging American Craft,” which he co-authored with Michael Ruhlman.

🥧 Click link in bio for Brian’s Individual
Pot Roast Pies recipe

📸: Quentin Bacon

Want to know how and decided which restaurants made this year’s Los Angeles Times 101 Best Restaurants list? Us too. S...
12/23/2024

Want to know how and decided which restaurants made this year’s Los Angeles Times 101 Best Restaurants list? Us too. So we asked.

Notable new entries include:molino



earned the #1 spot for the 2nd year in a row!

🎧Tap link in bio to hear more!

📸: Los Angeles Times

You can bake a cake any time of year but the holidays are a great excuse to try something indulgent. And if you’re going...
12/23/2024

You can bake a cake any time of year but the holidays are a great excuse to try something indulgent. And if you’re going to do it, there’s no better guide than “The Cake Bible.”

There’s a reason author is a legend. She’s famous for her thorough research, extensive testing, and innovative ideas. Rose basically invented reverse creaming with butter.

35 years after she published “The Cake Bible” in 1988, Rose decided to update the book. The new edition, like the old, is a brick that contains all the knowledge you’ll need to tackle any cake.

🎂 Click link in bio for Rose’s famous Whipped Cream Cake recipe

📸: Matthew Septimus

Growing up, says her mom would begin preparing and cooking for Shabbat as early as Wednesday. The weekly Jewish ritual,...
12/20/2024

Growing up, says her mom would begin preparing and cooking for Shabbat as early as Wednesday. The weekly Jewish ritual, which takes place from sundown on Friday to sunset on Saturday, involves rest, prayer, and, of course, food.

After moving to New York, she let the ritual lapse but eventually found her way back to Shabbat. She says it helps her feel more grounded and less exhausted in preparing for the week ahead.

✡️ Click link in bio to get Adeena’s Extra Crispy Potato Kugel recipe!

📸: Avery/Penguin Random House.

Chef says all it takes to preserve fruit is vinegar and sugar. Add a  bit of water, and you can turn it into a shrub th...
12/20/2024

Chef says all it takes to preserve fruit is vinegar and sugar. Add a  bit of water, and you can turn it into a shrub that you can drink on its own or combine with alcohol to make a cocktail. Orozco is using blueberries, yuzu, and the bitter herb moringa for one of his shrubs. Another combines Santa Rosa plums and grapefruit.

For a foolproof cocktail, he recommends macerating strawberries in sugar with apple cider vinegar then straining them and adding them to mezcal or gin, sparkling water, and a bit of lemon or lime.

Store your shrubs in the refrigerator to prevent oxidation and they can last up to a year.

🪻Click link in bio to hear the Full Market Report

📸: Gillian Ferguson

How did a medieval alchemist, the Silk Road trade routes, and Catherine de Medici bring liqueur to our bar cabinets? In ...
12/19/2024

How did a medieval alchemist, the Silk Road trade routes, and Catherine de Medici bring liqueur to our bar cabinets? In her book, “Liqueur: A Global History,” Lesley Jacobs Solmonson explains how liqueurs went from the hands of the apothecary to those of the mixologist.

The first really big moment when liqueur spread to the rest of Europe was when Catherine de Medici got married to the King of France, Henry II, Lesley explains. She brought her love of liqueur with her. And her favorite was alchermes. It’s basically baking spices in liqueur form.

🍹Click link in bio to get Lesley’s recipe for Silk Sheets, a mezcal, cognac and alchermes cocktail

📸: Gianni Zottola, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson, Old Spirits Company, David Solmonson

From pre-Civil War Virginia to the “Mad Men” era, women have helped guide the modern cocktail craze. In her book “The Co...
12/17/2024

From pre-Civil War Virginia to the “Mad Men” era, women have helped guide the modern cocktail craze. In her book “The Cocktail Parlor,” .nice takes a look at how women shaped cocktail culture.

In the early 1900s, women began entering the workforce in much larger numbers before settling down into marriage. This resulted in the emergence of a new Tea Party hostess. These women were looking for more relaxed ways to entertain, so they co-opted the afternoon tea party as a more relaxed and informal event.

“The reason why the men were willing to attend what we might otherwise think of as a very refined female social tradition and tea party was because these tea parties were now serving alcohol. This became a very acceptable environment for men and women, especially single men and women, to mix and mingle without the need for a chaperone,” Nicola explains.

🍸Click link in bio for Nicola’s Manhattan recipe

📸: LA Public Library Archives

In 2006, ’s no-knead bread recipe went viral and changed life for him at . The 15th anniversary of “My Bread,” his revol...
12/17/2024

In 2006, ’s no-knead bread recipe went viral and changed life for him at .

The 15th anniversary of “My Bread,” his revolutionary no-knead bread-making book, features plenty of new recipes, like Barley and Miso Bread and Carrot & Raisin Bread. And many of the recipes also have tips for interesting variations.

🥖 Click link in bio for the recipe for Jim’s Barley and Miso Bread recipe

📸:

When you think of fermentation, do you think of drinks? .goldstein does. Aged eggnog may sound strange but she explains ...
12/16/2024

When you think of fermentation, do you think of drinks? .goldstein does. Aged eggnog may sound strange but she explains why it works.

“What you do is you make the eggnog base. With the eggs, we use bourbon, brandy, sherry, and rum. The alcohol really serves as a preservative, so you can keep it for a long time. You mix all of these things together, along with the spices, and then just put it in the refrigerator, age it for three weeks, so that all of the flavors blend.

Then, you can use the base to make eggnog with milk and cream à la minuit, whenever you have a craving for eggnog. The base will keep for up to a year, so you can have it from season to season.”

🔗 Click link in bio to get the Aged Eggnog recipe from Darra’s book, “Preserved: Drinks”

📸: David Malosh, Ashley Weeks Cart

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