My 2024 in Podcasts

in

I first got into podcasts in 2012 with Welcome to Nightvale. While I didn’t finish the series, it was a great entrance to the world of audio fiction. I found myself drawn to shows like Limetown, Within the Wires, Archive 81, and Hello From the Magic Tavern — some of which have been turned into TV shows!

My list isn’t long, but I wanted to log them so I could observe the change over the next year. I’ve finally fixed my Bluetooth headphones so I can also add audiobooks to this list next time.

Here’s my 2024 in podcasts:

What I’m listening to…

  • I start every morning with Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day. It’s especially fun when I recognize the current event example they cite. For example, September 2nd’s word of the day was incandescent and the author they quoted was Alexander Chee, a person I have been following online for years.

  • I haven’t listened consecutively, but I pick and choose a few artists I know on Song Exploder. My favorite episode so far was FKA Twigs, a very emotional journey behind the song “Mirrored Heart.”

  • Never Post is about the internet. Despite my deletion of Twitter, I still am interested in the wild world of the online creative class, I am part of it! Never Post is made by a group of notable internet personalities, one of which is Mike Rugnetta a friend and collaborator.

What I recorded this year…

  • Fun City is an ongoing narrative play podcast based on the world of Shadowrun, a tabletop role-playing game. We’ve created many of our homebrew rules, making it easier to tell the story of a group of New York criminals in the year 2021. We recorded episodes 47 through 54.

  • Why We Roll is a game design podcast and occasionally, I will join as a playtester. On this episode, I joined Anthony Grasso, the creator of Blister Critters to play a session live and improvised.

  • I got back together with the cast of REPLAY to record Replay Rewind, a post-adventure chat show for Dead Ghost Productions.

  • At the Winter Fancy Food Show, I sat down with BevNet and Nosh.com to chat about trends for CPG week.

I’m excited to record more and announce a new podcast project in 2025. Stay tuned!

My 2024 in Anime

in

My relationship with anime has always been peripheral compared to music. You’d assume I watched a ton of it in high school because I had bright red hair, sticking out jauntily with tons of pomade like Radical Edward from Cowboy Bebop. Cowboy Bebop was my gateway show back then. I didn’t pursue anime any further because I was obsessed with its soundtrack by Yoko Kanno and The Seatbelts. I watched Ghibli movies and sought out their soundtracks at Best Buy. I spent my spare time downloading music on Napster and trading mixtapes (more on this in another post).

It wasn’t until June 2021, when Viz Media reached out to me to test the recipes in the English translation of One Piece: Pirate Recipes by Sanji. I felt a little embarrassed that I had never watched the show, the longest-running franchise in the world. I figured, “Why not get to know the source material?” Many people laughed at me when they heard I was binge-watching One Piece. I did the math, if I watched 4 episodes per day, I could catch up to the current episodes in 9 months. It was fun to be cheered on by strangers on Twitter and celebrate when the 1000th episode aired in real-time. I joined the millions of people who wait for new episodes every week. My journey even earned me an interview on the One Piece podcast. I loved it so much, I re-watched One Piece when my partner said they hadn’t seen it. Yes, I’ve seen the whole of One Piece twice.

Once we were done, I developed a daily habit of watching anime during my meals. It was perfect because they ranged between 15 to 25 minutes, enough time for me to step away from my computer and to sit down if I was cooking all day. I’ve learned about the kinds of anime I like to watch: heart-warming adventures, isekai “another world”, cooking shows, slice of life, and some boy’s love (ooh la la). This is the first time I’ve written a list. I hope it helps folks new to anime find a show or two they might like.

In no particular order, here’s my 2024 in anime highlights:

Highly recommend

  • Barakamon - A disgraced calligrapher moves to a remote island for inspiration.

  • Bocchi The Rock! - A secretly talented guitarist has paralyzing social anxiety.

  • Laid-Back Camp - Teenage girls discover the peace of winter camping.

  • Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End - After an epic adventure, an elven mage reckons with the passing of time.

  • My Daemon - Sci fi where a young boy adopts an illegal creature with weird powers.

  • Fruits Basket (2019) - Beware, there are two of these on Crunchyroll! The 2001 version is not complete. An orphaned girl befriends a mysterious family with an astrological secret.

  • To Your Eternity - An alien lives for eternity on Earth, slowly becoming part of it.

  • Polar Bear Cafe - If talking animals had a sitcom in a cafe.

  • Ranma 1/2 - An arranged marriage becomes complicated when a ninja is cursed to transform whenever he gets wet.

  • The Aquatope on White Sand - A teen idol quits the spotlight and becomes an employee at a small-town aquarium.

  • One Piece - Yeah, I’m still watching this pirate adventure.

  • Spy Family - Amid a cold war, the world’s best spy embarks on his most difficult mission yet: building a fake family.

  • Apothecary Diaries - A Murder-She-Wrote period dramedy.

  • Delicious in Dungeon - An adventuring party is ravaged and broke but must go back into the dungeon to save one of their own. Their solution? Eat the monsters they defeat.

  • Welcome, Chitose - Delightful shorts of a tiny penguin exploring Kyoto.

  • Demon Lord 2099 - A demon lord awakens after 500 years of slumber to a futuristic world immune to his influence. So…he becomes a Twitch streamer.

  • Buddy Daddies - Two assassins kill a little girl’s father without her knowing and take her in as their own.

A nice watch…

  • Pluto - Serious! Someone’s killing all the robots.

  • Tonari No Yokai-San - If you like Japanese folkore.

  • Those Snow White Notes - All about shamisen!

  • Snow White with The Red Hair - Political intrigue mixed with a feminist retelling of the fairytale.

  • White Album 2 - High school love triangle.

  • Bartender: Glass of God - Lots of cool cocktail history.

  • Ramen Akaneko - Cats run a ramen shop.

  • Deaimon: Recipe for Happiness - All about the art of wagashi and family obligations.

  • Let’s Make a Mug, Too - High school girls get into pottery.

  • Do It Yourself!! - Adorable all-girl DIY club. Recommended if you love crafting.

  • Forest of Piano - A piano savant enters a piano competition against a life-long rival.

  • Thermae Romae - A Roman architect time travels to modern-day Japan whenever he falls into bodies of water.

  • Grandma & Grandpa Turn Young Again - Exactly as the title says.

  • Erased - Time travel mystery where a man awakens as a child again.

  • Spice & Wolf - A merchant befriends a wolf god who protects the harvest.

  • I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too - Like if you woke up and discovered your life was an RPG and you could level up.

Watched but…not my thing

  • Kakegurui - The bullying is pretty intense and the concept is silly, a high school that runs on high-stakes gambling. The live-action is a little better, which leans into extreme over-acting. The series did not reach a conclusion, alas.

  • GOOD NIGHT WORLD - I did like the concept of a family unknowingly playing an MMO together, but the incel-type behavior of the main character was very offputting. It was too gloomy overall for my taste.

  • Uncle From Another World - At first I thought it was funny how obsessed the uncle was with Sega consoles, but his misogyny is unforgivable. I couldn’t finish the series.

I’m continuing to watch every day in the new year and am excited to learn about more new anime series.

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

in

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

in , ,

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.

Hold Up! Stay Humble with Humble Bundle Games - AD

in

This is a sponsored post. TL:DR I’m working with Humble Bundle and receive commissions when you purchase through the links in this post.

In addition to cooking, I also love to play games when I have downtime. From tabletop RPGs to indie titles and expansive open worlds, it’s fun to get out of the kitchen and immerse myself elsewhere. What if playing games could help the environment and other causes I believe in, too?

Humble Bundle started as a limited time pay what you wish package of 3 to 5 indie games. During that period, you could gain bonuses like extra games or soundtracks (which were always good!). You could choose how much of that purchase went to charity.

Nowadays, Humble Bundle is an alternative storefront for games against corporate enterprises which are riddled with bureaucracy and long approvals. It’s a cool, new way to support independent creators while spreading the wealth to worthy causes.

What is in my Humble Library?

I gravitate toward narrative adventures, though below you will also see some puzzle and platform games. I periodically stream gameplay live on my Twitch Channel.

Here’s a peek at some of the games in my Humble library:

  • Broken Age - An epic adventure from Double Fine. You play as two characters: Vella, who has been volunteered for a maiden sacrifice, and Shay, a lonely boy who lives on a spaceship.

  • Dave the Diver - A big diving hole in the ocean provides fish for your new sushi restaurant. Other folks from the community ask you to find stuff down there, too.

  • Gone Home - Explore your childhood home during a rainstorm. Recommended if you love going through people’s stuff and cassette tapes.

  • Inscryption - A surprising card game that reveals itself to be much more than it seems as you progress.

  • Kentucky Route Zero - Gorgeous, musical, and trippy story.

  • Machinarium - You play as a little tin dude who solves puzzles in a steampunk world.

  • Night in the Woods - A college dropout heads home and unravels a local conspiracy.

  • Samorost 3 - Point-and-click exploration game from the same studio as Machinarium.

  • Stacking - You play as the smallest Matryoshka doll who can jump into bigger dolls. You solve puzzles by stacking dolls with different skills to save your family from an evil baron.

  • Sword & Sworcery - I won’t spoil it, but it’s beautiful and mystical with some real-world bleed. The soundtrack by Jim Guthrie is incredible, too, I have it on cassette!

What if I don’t know much about games? Where do I start?

That’s okay! If the store is overwhelming, you can also try out Humble Choice, a flexible membership with a curated mix of games. On the first Tuesday morning of every month, the games are revealed and you can choose between a monthly membership or an annual subscription. You’ll be presented with various game genres from RPGs to strategy to shooters and indies. The current price is $11.99 USD per month, though you might want to check the Humble Choice Hub for the latest updates. And guess what? 5% of your payments will always go to charity.

What charities does Humble Bundle support?

Charity giving is a huge part of Humble Bundle and they are transparent about how much money goes to each organization. Every month, they feature a new charity and send 5% of all Humble Choice membership fees to the nonprofit. In 2024, they donated $253,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation! Other organizations they support are Coral Guardian; Trees, Water, & People; Cool Effect, Kiss the Ground, One Tree Planted, The Trevor Project, It Gets Better, Malala Project, Girls Who Code, and many more.

FAQ

What is Humble Bundle?

Humble Bundle sells games, ebooks, software, and other digital content. Their mission is to support charity while providing awesome content to customers at great prices. They launched in 2010 with a single two-week Humble Indie Bundle, but have humbly grown into a store full of games and bundles, a gaming membership service, a game publisher, and more.

What is your relationship with Humble Bundle?

I am an affiliate partner of Humble Bundle. That means I earn a commission when you use my links to purchase from the store or join their paid membership programs.

Allwell Is My Go To For Local Sustainably Grown Asian Greens - AD

in

This is a sponsored post. TL:DR I’m working with Allwell Greens and receive gifted products for events and content.

I met Judy and John Cari of Allwell Greens through my friend Liza de Guia. Liza produces a tv show called Food. Curated. on NYC Life. She hosted a party to celebrate the release of season 6 at The Woods in Williamsburg. It was a huge community potluck with featured chefs and local businesses. I brought a tray of vegan pancit and steamed persimmon buns. As I browsed two whole rooms full of food, split into sweet and savory; I found small boxes of fresh bok choy. I took one and looked at it quizzically, “What’s this doing here?” John leaned over and said, “Go ahead! Take it home!” And Judy added, ”It’s bok choy from our farm.”

I was surprised to hear about their vertical farm in Long Island City. Allwell Greens exclusively grows sustainable Asian greens! I was so happy to learn about them because I buy a lot of Asian produce and would like to serve locally grown vegetables. John showed me photos of their mini-farm and told me about scientific trials on the resilience of their plants.

At home, I marveled at how long the petit bok choy lasted in the fridge. They were still perky and crisp after 3 weeks! Judy invited me to visit the farm and showed me around. Because they grow everything in a closed system, their crops are pesticide and herbicide-free. Plus, you don’t need to wash the vegetables when you take them home. They are so crisp and flavorful that you can eat them raw in salads. She even let me peek at some experiments for future crops. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Judy and John love to eat at restaurants, too. We have since become great friends and collaborators thanks to our introduction through Liza. I periodically join them for a calm afternoon of harvesting bok choy.

To learn more about Allwell Greens watch their feature on season 6, episode 6 of Food. Curated..

Where do you get Allwell Greens?

As of 4/17/24, you can get Allwell Greens in the NYC area from Farm to People, Umami Cart, Essex Farm at Essex Market, Urban Market, Jubilee Marketplace, Dumbo Market, and Double Green Produce. Stay tuned to their Instagram for updated vendors.

What can you get from Allwell Greens?

Here are the most current offerings from AllwellGreens.com. Pay attention to their social media for specialty harvests and tests for new veggies.

Petite Shanghai Bok Choy 上海苗

The Shanghai Bok Choy has a bulbous light green stem and oval leaves. It is a mild and sweet-tasting vegetable. Shanghai Bok Choy is the most versatile leafy green in Asian greens, great for stir-fries, soups, grilling, and is a great crispy green for salads.

Petite Yu Choy 油菜苗

Yu Choy's literal translation means "oil vegetable" in Chinese. It has a crunchy stalk, oval-shaped leaves and when it blooms there are small edible yellow flowers. Yu Choy has a sweet, green taste similar to baby spinach, with subtle peppery notes. It is great for stir-fries, steaming, and blanching.

Baby White Bok Choy 奶油苗

The delicate leaves are dark green to light green, the stems are a milky white color, crisp, smooth, and wide. Baby White Bok Choy is tender and crunchy with a sweet, mild cabbage-like flavor with a slight mineral note. It is used in stir-fries, soups, and salads.

Petite Gailan (Chinese Broccoli) 芥蘭苗

The stems are pale green, smooth, and crunchy, and the broad blue-green to dark green, waxy leaves are semi-glossy. Our Gailan is harvested while they are young, hence why we call it "petite". Our Gailan will taste sweeter and less bitter than the larger full-grown version.

Water Spinach (Ong Choy) 青空心菜

Water Spinach also known as Kong Xin Cai/Kang Kung Belacan, has become a regular in Asian and Southeast Asian households. The stem is hollow and the leaves are tender, when cooked the crunchiness of the stems complements the soft tender leaves with a crisp clean taste.

What do I make with Allwell Greens?

Here is a running list of dishes I’ve made with Allwell Greens!

Bok Choy Ranch Salad

Crispy loose leaves of bok choy over a yogurt-based ranch dressing with sunflower seeds and watermelon radish.

Yu Choy Cream Cheese Dip

Just like spinach dip! I sauteed and squeezed all the liquid from a box of yu choy. I mixed it with cream cheese and spices for dipping bread and crudites. It could be served cold or warmed up, too.

Shiso Bun Cha

Allwell’s specialty shiso leaves are so big! They’re great for wrapping bbq, but also amazing in raw salads. Here I mixed it with some frisee, spicy microgreens, cucumber, and rice noodles to go with a piquant fish sauce dressing.

FAQ

What is Allwell Greens?

Allwell Greens is a vertical farm located in Long Island City. It was founded by Judy and John Cari. Their goal is to revolutionize the Asian produce business by providing responsibly grown, pesticide-free heritage Asian greens. 

What is your relationship with Allwell Greens?

I am an unofficial ambassador for Allwell Greens. I receive gifted products for my events and content.

My 5 Best Recipes in Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook Juneteenth & Black Celebrations

in

Watermelon and Red Birds is my second cookbook collaboration with author Nicole Taylor. This recipe collection is unique in its scope and the way it is organized. It is the first Juneteenth-focused cookbook in existence! Instead of the typical table of contents divided by breakfast, lunch, or dinner; it is organized by the components that make up a great celebration, be it Juneteenth, anniversary, or birthday:

  • Spice Blends

  • Red Drinks

  • Festivals & Fairs

  • Cookout & BBQ

  • Potato, Green, & Fruit Salads

  • Snow Cones, Ice pops, & Ice Cream

  • Cake! Cake! Cake! (And a Couple of Pies)

  • Everyday Juneteenth

In the foreword, Stephen Satterfield writes, “These recipes are illustrative of [Nicole’s] gifts, moving us seamlessly from the historic to the contemporary, with ingredients and rhetoric together reinforcing a clear thesis—’I put on for my people.’”

For my part, I helped Nicole develop, refine, and test recipes she already had percolating in her notebooks. Sometimes an author has a glut of ideas and needs help focusing them down or exploring their variations. This project was also a test of strength for us during the COVID-19 pandemic with unstable grocery prices, shortages, and adjusting to a new way of working. Our proof of life and joy are here in this book. These stories are here to stay. If you don’t have a copy, buy one here.

So, what are my 5 best recipes in Watermelon & Red Birds?

Of the recipes I developed…

It’s always difficult for me to choose favorites among a pile of treasure, but I chose these recipes based on their ease and riffs on classics.

  • Savory Elephant Ears - I had never heard of elephant ears before meeting Nicole, so I had a fun time researching them. They are large discs of deep-fried dough that are finished with cinnamon sugar. Our version makes it savory with a cheddar and black pepper sprinkle.

  • Wavy Fries with Blue Cheese Dip & Lemon Pepper - We originally wanted to include waffle fries, but it’s not easy for a home cook to get the tools to make them. We opted for a wavy cutter to bring about that festival feel with the flavors of the famous lemon pepper wings of the South.

  • Apricot Lamb Chops with Green Garlic Chimichurri - A luxurious treat, worthy of celebration. It’ll be easiest to get lamb and green garlic in the Springtime, a little bit ahead of June. For those that have my first cookbook, Showdown, you know that I love being around the grill. Lamb chops cook very quickly and go great with grilled apricots that get even better when their sugars caramelize.

  • Chile Marshmallow Pies - I had so much fun recreating Moon Pies! They were one of my favorite gas station treats on family road trips. Our version whips up homemade marshmallows spiked with jalapeno and lime. Rounds of chile marshmallow get sandwiched between buckwheat graham crackers and the whole thing is dipped in chocolate.

  • Devil’s Food Ice Box Cake - We developed our own recipe for chocolate wafers and that’s the hardest part. The rest is easy! Layer the homemade wafers with chocolate cream cheese filling and freeze it. When it’s set, press pecans into the sides before you slice it up.

As a vegetable-forward person…

For a plant-based menu, there are plenty of options! These are my favorite vegetarian items, but many of the recipes can be adjusted easily. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, there are two chapters dedicated to frozen desserts and cake.

  • Meatless Baked Beans

  • Zucchini Corn Dogs

  • Summer Peas, Green Beans, & Corn Salad

  • Garlicky Okra and Rice (minus the fish sauce, of course!)

  • Corn Ice Cream Sandwiches

As a person who loves meat…

You do not need a grill to enjoy these cookout recipes. I included oven method alternatives that do not skimp on flavor.

  • Beef Ribs with Harissa

  • Rodeo Turkey Legs

  • Chorizo Corn Chip Nachos

  • Late Night Steak Tostada

  • Blueberry & Beef Puff Pies

The recipes I revisited …

In the years after publishing the Watermelon & Red Birds, I found myself looping back toward these recipes.

  • Strawberry Lemonade

  • Pork Chops with Dukkah

  • Quick Pickles (especially the red onions)

  • Broiler Salmon with Romesco

  • Roasted Nectarine Sundae with Honey Vanilla Ice Cream, Pistachio Brittle, and Caramel Sauce

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

My 5 Best Recipes in Showdown: Comfort Food, Chili & BBQ

in

I’m asking myself the question that makes me audibly gasp when others ask it. What are my 5 favorite recipes in my own cookbook? In college, I remember learning about positioning—in the sense of regarding a particular kind of person when you consider their background and preferences. The answer to every subjective question in the world can change when you think about someone’s positioning. At the time of publishing Showdown, my favorite recipes were different from the ones I’m choosing now. It’s like I’m on a boat in a sea of my own creations and I’ll pull up different dishes on different days.

Today, I’m writing to you as a 39-year-old who has published, developed, or tested 13 cookbooks. My palate has expanded to include many new cuisines that I had not yet tried when I was 32 years old. I can also tell you the recipes that I revisited in my everyday life and what were successes to people who bought the book. If you don’t have a copy, those in the U.S. can get a signed one here. For worldwide shipping, click here (these copies are not signed).

So, what are my 5 best recipes in Showdown?

As a meat-forward person…

I look to these recipes for fun weekend projects or if folks are coming over. They have sub recipes and may take a day or two of prep, but they’re worth it. Some protein components like chili, meatballs, bacon, chicken, and burgers can be flash-frozen for later.

  • Cocoa Coriander Chili

  • 20K Meatballs Under the Sea (Sub Sandwich)

  • Make Your Own Damn Bacon

  • Chicken Mole Torta

  • Baa-Daas Burger

As a vegetable-forward person…

When you feel like you’ve had enough meat for the week or want to accommodate those with plant-based diets, these are my hearty, savory meals I like to make.

  • Black Bean and Pepita Balls

  • Smoked Vegetables and Fruits

  • Roasted Stuffed Poblano Flatbread

  • Potato Salad with Wasabi Sesame Seeds

  • Mushroom Hoagie

As a person who does not have a grill…

Listen, I live in New York, I know how hard it is to find space to grill. It’s not always easy to camp out for a public grill at the park, too. These recipes are perfectly fine with an oven or toaster oven. In all honesty, it’s much cleaner than breaking out the grill.

  • Dirty South Biscuits and Gravy

  • Cherry Chocolate Meatballs

  • Shumai, Oh My

  • Pulled Chicken Mole

  • Crunchy Elote

  • As a person who has a grill…

My friend, thank you for your trust. These are some of my favorite projects. Finding out that my charcoal grill could also function as a smoker blew my mind. When you’re done grilling, consider smoking some extra veggies and fruits for later.

  • Homemade Tasso (so you can make The Smokemonster chili)

  • Grilled Flakey Flatbread

  • “I Like It Shallot” Burger

  • Adobo Wangs

  • Grilled Stone Fruit

The recipes I made the most…

I haven’t counted the times that I’ve made these dishes, but I have a pretty good idea of what is in rotation. The thing is, the recipes in this book were already some of my greatest hits. It’s nice to develop muscle memory about these five entries and to know their shopping lists without looking them up.

  • Fuzzy Five-Spice Meatballs

  • Carne Asada

  • Bacon Chili Oil

  • Herb Slaw

  • Chocolate Bark

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