January 2022
Winter doldrums are a great time to catch up on podcasts or roast a duck. Just sayin'
Hi all —
Here’s my (try as hard as I can) monthly round-up for those of you who want to learn / keep up a little more with me and the work that I do. Hope you enjoy.
The (podcast) shoulder season
We’re in between podcast seasons this month, but I wanted to write to keep you up to date (and maybe prompt you to catch up on some episodes you missed ;) ). The new season begins 02/04/22, so please subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you’ll be ready!
In the meantime, I’ve been banking some recordings, doing some writing, and planning for the year, though that last thing is with a light hand as the work will lead me more than any itinerary can. While that might really freak out some of you that love to build strict plans and implement them, I find that the random surprises, serendipitous conversations, and rabbit holes of research I encounter as catalyst to my workaday tasks are some of my biggest professional joys.
Cooking a “beginner’s duck” for my last Post & Courier recipe column was also a joy, since it turned out delicious and juicy and full of flavor. The paper is going in a different direction for food content in 2022, but I loved experimenting with vintage recipes, so I know that kind of recipe writing will someday appear again at my desk!
And if fancy cooking isn’t your thing, but fancy eating is, I got to detail one of my fanciest tasting menu finds in Atlanta for Resy when I shared some behind the scenes details about Lazy Betty in Candler Park. It was one of my favorite restaurant experiences of 2021 — one of the chef’s Instagram handles is @caviarkingpin after all — so it’s become one of my go-to recs for the Georgia city.
Citrus-cured Hiramasa, Coral Tuile, Pineapple-Mint Vinaigrette. Photo: Andrew Thomas Lee.
Episode Updates
There are two months of podcasts to catch up on while you’re in the January doldrums, including Chef Adam Evans in B’ham, Marcie Cohen Ferris, scholar of the Jewish South, Chef Tim Morton in Charleston, Andrew Carmines of an iconic Hilton Head Island restaurant family, and Chef Kevin Mitchell, who along with past guest Dr. David Shields, has just published Taste the State.
And finally, in the season finale I share some insights into my last year of recording and documenting this ever shifting culinary world. This episode is a little briefer than my interviews but packed with nuggets nonetheless.
Other podcast episodes I like right now: Invisibilia’s episode “Nun of Us Are Friends” explores the idea that once, for some, choosing a particular friend was fraught with spiritual landmines. Fascinating slice of life. Another slice of life is Gerald Stratford and his UK garden, detailed on this episode of This is Love. It’s hard not to plan a spring garden after listening!
On my mind: always a million things, especially at 3 a.m. But this month it’s the idea of walls, literally and figuratively, that many of us use to shut ourselves away. This piece in The Guardian speaks to the idea.
Cooking soundtrack album: The Essential Bessie Smith, Bessie Smith
Best thing I cooked this month: Hopping John with field peas, from a recipe from Celeste Albers (here’s the recipe, good for a serving of luck anytime you make it):
Until next time,
Steph