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Deb Perelman on building Smitten Kitchen and what makes a "keeper" recipe
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Deb Perelman on building Smitten Kitchen and what makes a "keeper" recipe

Plus, warming ginger-garlic chicken noodle soup and a boatload of new cookbook releases. Tis the season, for both!

Hi there, happy Thursday! We’ve got a great chat with Smitten Kitchen herself (aka Deb Perelman) this week, so let’s cut right to it:

Episode 161: Deb Perelman

Photo: Christine Han

In this week’s episode,

of and I discuss:

  • Her initial foray into blogging—from her short stint chronicling her dating life in New York City and shifting the focus to cooking;

  • How she approaches cookbook writing, from her initial reluctance to write a cookbook to what makes “keeper recipes;”

  • Where she finds inspiration, including which cookbooks she turns to.

Plus, as always, we put Deb to the test in our signature culinary game.

Hey there, do you love Salt + Spine? We’d love if you shared this email with a friend who might want to #TalkCookbooks with us, too:

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Smitten Kitchen Keepers: New Classics For Your Forever Files by Deb Perelman

In her third book, Smitten Kitchen Keepers: New Classics for Your Forever Files, Deb Perelman gives us 100 recipes (including a few favorites from her site) that aim to make shopping easier, preparation more practical and enjoyable, and food more reliably delicious for the home cook.

What's a keeper?

  • a full-crunch cucumber salad you'll want to make over and over again for lunch

  • a tomato and corn cobbler that tastes like summer sunshine

  • an epic deep-dish broccoli cheddar quiche that even quiche skeptics love

  • a slow-roasted chicken on a bed of unapologetically schmaltzy croutons

  • a butterscotched apple crisp that will ruin you for all others

  • perfect spaghetti and meatballs, better than ever

  • Deb's ultimate pound cake, one to redeem all the sleepy ones you've eaten over the years

These are the fail-safe, satisfying recipes you'll rely on for years to come--from Perelman's forever files to yours.

We 💚 local bookstores. Pick up your copy of Smitten Kitchen Keepers here:

Bookshop

This week, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for Ginger Garlic Chicken Noodle Soup, the first recipe she worked on for this book and “the definition of a keeper.”

Salt + Spine is supported by listeners like you. For this week’s recipe—plus exclusive content and hundreds of other featured recipes—become a paid subscriber today.

New Cookbook Releases*

*from this week and last week, as we’re behind! 😊

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