Book

My 5 Best Recipes from The Last OG Cookbook

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In 2018, I worked with Nicole Taylor (author of The Up South Cookbook and Watermelon & Red Birds) to research, develop, and test recipes from The Last OG tv show on TBS. It was my first cookbook project for a major media property, so I was very excited to take it on. I watched the show and took note of what they ate, mentioned, and cooked. Nicole did a lot of research on historical Brooklyn cuisine, prison food, and dishes from the Caribbean to fill out the rest of the book.

It was a creative endeavor to imagine what other foods the characters would enjoy and make for themselves. Not only is the book design insane (each recipe page is laid out differently!), but it is also educational about criminal justice reform and mass incarceration. It’s not just recipes from the show, but a great document of Brooklyn pride and its diverse cuisine. If you don’t have a copy of The Last OG Cookbook yet, you can grab one here from Bookshop.

From The Recipes I Developed

  • Jamaican Beef Patties - A classic bodega stable with homemade filling and crust. Ground beef is sauteed with fresh thyme and habanero peppers to make you cry (in a good way).

  • Loaded Onion Hot Dog - When Nicole asked me to load this hot dog with onion, I thought about how versatile onions can be. It’s a triple threat of caramelized Vidalia onion, raw red onion, and crushed Funyuns.

  • Pretzel Dusted Kebabs - Grilled lamb skewers mashed with another bodega favorite: salty pretzels! Juicy meat with onion, peppers, and pretzels for crunch.

  • Parkside Pot Pie - Savory hand pies filled with comforting chicken breast, peas, and gravy. It’s a portable pot pie you can bring on picnics!

  • Parole Board Bacon Burger - You don’t want to pass on this stack. It’s a 1/2 pound beef patty with thick-cut bacon, melty American cheese, and my special sauce packed with paprika and chili powder.

For the Vegetarian

  • Bodega Corn Casserole - Really easy to make!

  • Shay’s Sweet Potatoes - Can’t really

  • Prison Pad Thai - A real prison cooking method used to make dinner out of pantry staples.

  • Star Witness Knishes - These require a little patience, but are worth it in the end.

  • Green Eye’s Fried Pickles - Sour + crunch? You can’t go wrong.

For the Meat Eater

  • Clyde’s Backstabbing Ribeye

  • Bobby’s Blinged Out Tacos

  • Bulletproof String Beans & Minced Pork

  • Lemon Pepper Drums

  • Make Up Meat Platter

For a Party

  • Chopped Cheese Dip

  • Smoked Fish Fritters

  • Mango Slaw

  • Mullin's’ “Finger Lickers”

  • Amira’s Peach Cobbler

If You Have a Sweet Tooth

  • PBJ Beignets

  • Big Country’as Turtles

  • Brooklyn Knock-Out Sundae

  • Amira’s Peach Cobbler

  • The Goods Muffins

My 5 Best Recipes from the Onigiri Cookbook

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Onigiri was the first single-subject cookbook that I have fully tested. It was originally written by Ai Watanabe and Samuel Trifot of Gili-Gili, an onigiri shop located in Paris, France. The name of the shop translates from Japanese for “just in time,” for onigiri’s portability.

What exactly is onigiri? It’s white sushi rice shaped into a triangle and wrapped with nori. They are often seasoned or stuffed with sweet or savory ingredients. The cookbook is family-friendly and easy to understand for all cooking levels. As experienced as I am with recipe testing, I picked up a few cool kitchen tricks and trivia. My favorite phrase is fuwa-fuwa, Japanese for airy, the perfect texture of rice.

I worked with my editor David Brothers at Viz Media on all testing and copyediting. I often refer to this book for cocktail hour ideas and for lunches to go. In addition to the 30+ onigiri recipes, you’ll also find a chapter of Soup, Snacks & Pickled Food to enjoy. If you do not have a copy yet, you can get one here.

What are my best 5 recipes in Onigiri?

  • Cured egg onigiri - Perhaps the coolest technique in the book! You freeze eggs until they’re hard and then peel them. Once they defrost it’s easy to separate the white from the yolk with your hands. The yolks are then cured in soy sauce and mirin before you stuff them into the warm rice balls. It’s gooey and savory, my favorite onigiri of the collection.

  • Okaka onigiri - A surprising combination of bonito mixed with an alarming amount of soy sauce and wasabi. Every bite is a flare of my nose, but I love it.

  • Mehari onigiri - I love the presentation of these onigiri. Swiss chard leaves are blanched quickly and then marinated before wrapping the outside of a rice ball in place of nori.

  • Bacon & asparagus onigiri - If you need to impress a dinner party, these are so cute. You wrap 2 asparagus spears with bacon and sear them in a pan. You nest them in the onigiri as you shape it so they stick out the top.

  • Nut & miso onigiri - I’ve never had a sweet onigiri before, this isn’t too sweet, but it works! It’s equivalent to a salty peanut butter sandwich with the addition of extra nutty red miso.

As a Meat Eater…

  • Gyudon onigiri

  • Garlic pork onigiri

  • Chanterelle omelette onigiri

  • Duck breast onigiri

  • Ume & ponzu chicken onigiri

As a Pescatarian…

  • Mackerel with miso onigiri

  • Ikura onigiri

  • Russian-style onigiri

  • Tuna-mayo onigiri

  • Salmon onigiri

As a Vegetarian…

  • Chetnut onigiri

  • Goma edamame onigiri

  • Shiitake onigiri

  • Tofu curry onigiri

  • Beet & kinpira onigiri

I would love to hear if you cooked any recipes and posted them on Instagram. Make sure to tag me or send them along via email to randwiches at gmail dot com.

#AD - Stock The Shelves with Gorgeous Cookbooks, A 2024 Gift Guide

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I love working on cookbooks. From an idea, a dish is tested over and over again before it gets sent to me. I examine its ingredient list, headnotes, methods, and develop fixes if it didn’t work out. I pass them along to editors and copywriters who ask a ton of follow-up questions. Meanwhile, photographers, prop stylists, and food stylists take gorgeous photos. Designers take the final words and photos to lay them out on digital pages. Cookbooks are woven together by many people and pop out of a big printer as a book! It’s more complicated than that, but my part in it feels magical. All of my close reading, cooking, and measuring results in something you can hold in your hands—that is a cool gift.

This gift guide is comprised of a few lists: the books I worked on this year, books I enjoyed, books from my friends, and my others books (and one that isn’t out yet, if you’re interested).

All of the links I use below are affiliate links, meaning I get a little commission if you purchase from them. I provided both Amazon and Bookshop links for your convenience.

The Books I Worked on in 2024

Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking--125 Recipes from the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Ocean Islands

Buy on Bookshop | Buy on Amazon

Von Diaz is a journalist, researcher, and great friend of mine. ISLAS is a look at the common cooking practices and unique resilience across disparate island nations. I developed and tested half of the recipes, focusing on Southeast Asia. I worked in tandem with my co-developer Brigid Washington, whose expertise surrounds the Caribbean. I particularly loved making gato pima, lechon kawali, chicken jook, lemon lasary, Kālua pork, and Chamorro bbq chicken.

ISLAS is one of Food & Wine’s best cookbooks of 2024.

Di An: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking with TwayDaBae (A Cookbook)

Buy on Bookshop | Buy on Amazon

Tuệ Nguyễn is a Forbes 30 under 30 social media star, restauranteur, and now author. We worked together for 2 years to tell the story of her Vietnamese roots, culinary journey, and her hopes for the future. I tested every recipe in the book and they sing of Vietnamese culture. Start with the fish sauce chicken wings, Asian banana bread, pandan waffles, clay pot chicken, and squash soup.

Di An is one of the LA Times’ best cookbooks of 2024.

The Four Horsemen: Food and Wine for Good Times from the Brooklyn Restaurant

Buy on Bookshop | Buy on Amazon

The Four Horsemen is a beloved restaurant in Brooklyn known for sourcing the freshest ingredients and curating a James Beard Award-winning wine menu. It was founded by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem fame, the late Justin Chearno, Randy Moon, and Christina Topsøe. I worked with chef Nick Curtola and co-writer Gabe Ulla to test all of the recipes in the book. It is massive at 336 pages and almost 3 pounds! You must try the ravioli with English peas, maple glazed doughnuts, kedgeree, white asparagus, beef short ribs, and the frangipane apple tart.

The Four Horsemen Cookbook is on Eater’s best gifts for wine lovers list and Chowhound’s Best Cookbook list.

Justine Cooks: A Cookbook: Recipes (Mostly Plants) for Finding Your Way in the Kitchen

Buy it on Bookshop | Buy it on Amazon

Justine Doiron is a plant-forward, flexi-pescatarian social media personality, and NYT Best-Selling author. I tested half of the recipes in her debut cookbook. I highly recommend making her pistachio dukkah, Parmesan-crusted butter beans, fava beans with lemon walnut cream, lentils, and smashed honey-nut beans with crisped mushrooms.

Justine Cooks is one of Food & Wine’s best cookbooks of 2024.

Books I Enjoyed in 2024

Tin to Table: Fancy, Snacky Recipes for Tin-thusiasts and A-fish-ionados

Buy it on Amazon | Buy it on Amazon

Anna Hezel was my editor at TASTE Cooking back when I started my freelance food writing journey. I also catered her wedding back in 2022. While Tin to Table came out last April, I found myself opening her book over and over again as I made my way through the tinned fish collection in my pantry. Healthwise, I made a concerted effort to eat more fish because oily fish like salmon and mackerel are excellent sources of vitamin D. My favorite recipes from the book are potato chips with mussels, smoked trout dip, sardine curry puffs, spicy tuna kimbap, vanilla butter with anchovies, as well as the bucatini with sardines and caramelized fennel.

Mayumu, Filipino-American Desserts Remixed

Buy it on Bookshop | Buy it on Amazon

Abi Balingit is a friend I made through Twitter (bless) during the pandemic. We bonded over our shared journey from the West Coast and growing up with Filipino-American families. We’ve shared many meals and commiserated about the long cookbook publishing process. Mayumu is inventive but nostalgic, a unique telling of modern Filipino foodways. Try her famous adobo chocolate chip cookies, kare kare cookies, lengua de gato, pan de sal, food for the gods banana bread, and milky avocado popsicles.

The Geometry of Pasta

Buy it on Amazon

It’s not a new one, but it’s a workhorse reference book. The Geometry of Pasta is design-y black and white guide with graphics of each pasta shape, each with a few accompanying recipes. I’m an acolyte of the pure egg yolk fresh pasta recipe! The texture has changed my life and I also discovered that it worked with sous vide egg yolks and lightly cured egg yolks. While the book references a lot of extruded, store-bought pasta, there are plenty of pasta shapes to be made without a machine like lasagna sheets, canederli dumplings, fazzoletti handkerchiefs, gnocchi, gnudi, and orecchiette.

Click through the carousel to see a cumulative list of cookbooks, memoirs, novels, and graphic novels from people I’ve interviewed and friends I’ve made along the way. Hosted on Bookshop.

My Other Books

Showdown: Comfort Food Chili & BBQ

Buy it on Fourthwall (signed copies!) | Buy it on Amazon

My first cookbook is a collection of 100 recipes I created for cookoffs and competitions. Features bacon chili oil, chicken mole tortas, stuffed poblanos, tasso ham chili, arroz caldo, and grilled adobo chicken wings.

My 5 Best Recipes in ISLAS: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking

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ISLAS is my first major collaboration with author Von Diaz, who wrote Coconuts & Collards. We met through Nicole Taylor the night we were quietly celebrating the release of The Last OG Cookbook at her home. This time, my role was more involved than just testing the recipes. I developed and consulted on half of them, focusing on Southeast Asia and the Pacific. I also had the opportunity to contribute a multi-page guide to rice, it is a staple very close to my heart because I grew up eating it every day.

Von organized her recipes by cooking method, not by meal or country. She discovered many parallels in her research and travels across islands that are hundreds of miles apart. Despite limited access to ingredients and tools, islanders possess a unique resilience when it comes to cooking with these methods:

  • Marinating

  • Pickling + Fermentation

  • Braising + Stewing

  • Frying

  • Grilling, Roasting, + Smoking

  • Streaming + In-Ground Cooking

Our book team was bigger than most (and I hope others follow suit). I worked in tandem with Bridgid Washington, another recipe developer. After we developed the recipes, tested them, and reviewed the headnotes before they went off to the presses. A few years later, we’re proud to see ISLAS on bookstore shelves and named one of Food & Wine Magazines Best Cookbooks of 2024. If you do not have a copy of ISLAS, you can purchase one here.

What are my best 5 recipes in ISLAS?

Of the Recipes I worked on…

  • Chicken Jook - Hawaiian rice porridge may look and sound like Filipino arroz caldo (page 155), but its construction and flavor profile are different. Instead of using leftover rice as with arroz caldo, the raw grains are cooked with chicken broth and finished with scallions.

  • Lemon Lasary - Malagasy lemon zest and chile pickle require some patience! It is best cured for 4 weeks and can last up to a year. I loved it so much that I put it on the hot dog menu at Wonderville and called it the Lemon of Zelda with brie cream and poppy seeds.

  • Gato Pima - These fritters with chile are a lot like falafel except they are made with lentils and not chickpeas. I especially loved that it was easy to make and flash freeze for easy meals.

  • Beef Tapa - A classic Filipino breakfast protein. In most recipes it is tenderloin, but I opted for sirloin or skirt steak for its availability. The beef is sliced thinly, marinated with calamansi, and oven-dried a little. It is then fried and served over rice.

  • Sinigang Sa Mangga - I grew up eating Filipino sinigang na isda, a sour tamarind soup with fish and tomato. This version adapted from Yasmin Newman’s 7000 Islands leans on green mangoes as a souring agent.

As a Meat Eater…

  • Griot - Haitian fried braised boneless pork shoulder. This celebratory dish is often eaten with Pikliz (page 99).

  • Churrasco - Puerto Rican grilled steak marinated with garlic, oregano, and vinegar. It’s then finished with a tart wasakaka, a Dominican herb sauce with lots of lime.

  • Poulet Boucané- Martinique sugarcane smoked chicken! It is also known as “buccaneer chicken.” The chicken is marinated in lots of allium, lime, rum, allspice, and thyme before it is grilled with sugarcane pieces.

  • Lechon Kawali - A Flipino classic! Crispy deep-fried pork belly. Best enjoyed with bottled mang tomas and/or Sinamak (page 48).

  • Soup Joumou - Haitian “freedom soup” to commemorate Haiti’s independence from France in 1804. Its base is pureed pumpkin and cooked with beef or goat with vegetables and scotch bonnet peppers.

As a Pescatarian…

  • Vindaye Poisson

  • Kinilaw Na Isda

  • Mas Riha

  • Cari de Poisson Et Potiron

  • Bouyon Bred

As a Vegetarian…

  • Asar

  • Keshi Yena - Replace the beef with plant-based ground “meat”

  • Mofongo Con Guiso - Pork rinds are optional!

  • Ensaladanf Talong - Omit the shrimp paste.

  • Curried Green Jackfruit

For Building a Cool Pantry…

  • Asinan

  • Ginger Beer

  • Jerk Pork Tenderloin

  • Seychellois Massalé

  • Tamarind Chili Salt Salad

If I were Throwing a Massive Party…

  • Kālua Pua’a

  • Chamorro BBQ Chicken

  • Red Rice

  • Shoyu Ahi Poke

  • Pickled Green Papaya

I would love to hear if you cooked any recipes and posted them on social media. Make sure to tag me or send them along via email to randwiches at gmail dot com.

The Up South Cookbook

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ORDER LINKS:

AUTHOR: Nicole Taylor

ABOUT: Georgia native Nicole Taylor spent her early twenties trying to distance herself from her southern cooking roots--a move "up" to Brooklyn gave her a fresh appreciation for the bread and biscuits, Classic Fried Chicken, Lemon Coconut Stack Cake, and other flavors of her childhood.

The Up South Cookbook is a bridge to the past and a door to the future. The recipes in this deeply personal cookbook offer classic Southern favorites informed and updated by newly-discovered ingredients and different cultures. 

PUBLISHER: Countryman Press

RECIPE TESTING ASSISTANCE: Jenn de la Vega

The Last OG Cookbook

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Showdown: Comfort Food, Chili & BBQ Cookbook

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ORDER LINKS:

AUTHOR: Jenn de la Vega

PUBLISHER: Page Street Publishing, distributed by MacMillan. Member of  1% for the Planet.  1% of sales go to environmental charities each year.

DESCRIPTION: If ever there was a cookbook on a particular food from a certain region, most people would associate competition-worthy barbecue from a Southern chef. Chef and caterer Jenn de la Vega is out to change your mind about that. Known on the competition circuit and for her blog, Randwiches, Jenn creates uniquely flavorful and approachable barbecue.

Make eccentric, yet mouth-watering barbecue with or without a smoker, including the specialty side dishes, sauces and pickles that go along with them. This competition cook goes one step further to provide recipes for what to do with the leftovers, too. This book has 100 recipes and 60 photos.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Jenn de la Vega is editor-at-large of Put A Egg On It: Tasty Zine! and runs Randwiches, an award-winning experimental food blog and catering service. Jenn loves talking about food situations, digital art and technology. She has appeared on Guy’s Grocery Games on Food Network and ChefShock with Justin Warner on Twitch.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Colin Clark

Fancy Words about Showdown

“Jenn is the kind of author who makes you feel like you are winning just because you have the privilege of reading her text. Compound that with the fact that you can cook her food... and you feel like a leprechaun mounted on a gilded unicorn somehow snowboarding down a rainbow with an edible pot of gold, or chili, awaiting you at the final destination.” — Justin Warner, Food Network Judge & author of "The Laws of Cooking: And How to Break Them."

"These cravetastique, flavorful recipes are making me salivate! Jenn is a consummate expert in the field of crave-able dishes and this book is chock full of them. I can randomly open it to any page, make that dish, and then feel satisfied from head-to-toe.”— Lisa Q. Fetterman, CEO and Founder of Nomiku, Bestselling Author of "Sous Vide at Home"

"I'm a big fan of Jenn de la Vega's food and have enjoyed cheering her on for years. Her genuine enthusiasm for making and sharing food is undeniable – if it's all about how you play the game, Jenn is constantly winning.” —Adam J. Kurtz, bestselling artist & author of “Pick Me Up”

"Jenn's approach to cooking is a source of inspiration; she has the ability to spin comfort food classics and elevate them into something totally new. Additionally, her recipes are easy to follow, and include classic techniques that are simplified for the home cook. Whether you are just learning to cook, or have been at it for years, this book has something for everyone!”— Molly Adams, Senior Food Editor of The FeedFeed

Press

Showdown! My First Cookbook (& How You Can Help)

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Ah, it's real ! My first ever cookbook is coming out on May 2,2017 on Page Street Publishing and distributed by MacMillan. 

For every copy of the book sold, we are donating to 1% for the Planet. 

Order your copy from your choice of

The first 25 people to email me their receipt and mailing address get a special prize! Send me a message here: randwiches+win@gmail.com

I'm also putting together a book tour and here are all my stops so far (latest list on my book's webpage).

Here's how you can help:

  1. Preorder the book :)
  2. Ask your local book store if they will carry Showdown (if not, send them this page!)
  3. Invite friends to my book events
  4. Help me share the book info on social media:

    • When posting please include the following:

    • Hashtag: #ShowdownBook

    • Link: http://amzn.to/2nMjpId

    • Twitter tag: @Randwiches

    • Facebook tags: @Randwiches, @PageStreetPublishing

    • Instagram tags, if possible: @Randwiches, @PageStreetPublishing @ColinClark

  5. Share a story about how we met

  6. Share a story about eating my food

  7. Share a story about us eating together

  8. If you know a book shop where I can have an event, please tell me!

  9. If I can take over your restaurant or space for a pop up, I'd love to.

Thank you and I'm excited to share these recipes with you.