Keeping It Simple | Yasmin Fahr
Keep It Simple
Easy Weeknight One-Pot Recipes
By Yasmin Fahr
Intro: Welcome to the number one cookbook podcast Cookery by the Book with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table talking to cookbook authors.
Yasmin Fahr: Hi, I'm Yasmin Fahr. I'm the author of Keeping It Simple, which is full of easy weeknight one pot recipes.
Suzy Chase: If you enjoy this podcast, please be sure to tell a friend. I'm always looking for new people to enjoy Cookery by the Book. On with the show. You're on trend for the new year if you're cooking at home more than you used to. Today, 82% of the meals Americans eat are prepared at home, a much higher percentage than a decade ago. With Keeping It Simple, we will have dinner on the table in the time it takes to drink a glass of wine or two. Tell us about that.
Yasmin Fahr: Well, first, I came up with the recipes because I was writing a column for Serious Eats that was easy weeknight dinners in one-pot. At a time I was writing it, I was working as a hotel inspector, so I was traveling all over the world for two to three weeks of every month, so I needed to make recipes that were easy enough to do because I was super tired from traveling, but also were good for me because I've been eating out all the time. I took that same approach to the book because even if you're not traveling a lot, I think we're all really busy and want to make delicious, fun, beautiful meals, but don't always have the time to do so. That's really the need I was trying to meet with this book.
Suzy Chase: Okay. Before we get on with the book, what is a hotel inspector?
Yasmin Fahr: Yeah, so it does sound like an interesting job-
Suzy Chase: I'm sure everyone asked you.
Yasmin Fahr: ...and it was. Yeah, it's definitely unusual. Basically I was working as a luxury hotel, restaurant and spa inspector. I would travel to these properties, stay there, and then evaluate them and then write a report. We were trying to figure out if they were five or four star properties. That's why I was going. It was kind of an amazing job to be paid to travel the world and eat and stay in incredible places. Definitely a dream job.
Suzy Chase: These recipes in this cookbook are faster than delivery. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Yasmin Fahr: Yeah. I think going back to that same idea of people wanting to make really good meals, but not having a lot of time, I was thinking, okay, so delivery probably takes what, 30 to 40 minutes by the time you figure out what you want and order, and then I want these recipes to be ready in that same time to be really simple and approachable, but also fun and beautiful.
Suzy Chase: Describe the four recipe icons sprinkled throughout the book.
Yasmin Fahr: Yes, I really love these. Thank you for asking. We have four and the first one is the efficiency moves, which is basically tips on how to approach the recipe. I think a lot of times when you have something you haven't made before, it's kind of overwhelming to know where to start and what to do. This really tells you how to approach the whole thing, what to do during downtime, whether it's drinking a glass of wine or cleaning up. You can totally ignore this if you don't like to be told what to do. I get that, but it's meant more to be helpful.
Yasmin Fahr: Then there's recipe notes which are just small tips on good things to know for the recipe, and then we have swap out some variations, which are for seasonal ingredients or if something is kind of hard to find or let's say you hate cilantro, you get tips on what to switch it out with. The last one is leftover notes. A lot of times you may have some extra [inaudible 00:03:27] the recipes, so it's ways to be kind of creative and use them for lunch or dinner the next day.
Suzy Chase: Let's talk meatballs.
Yasmin Fahr: Yay.
Suzy Chase: Tell me the story about how meatballs got the better of you.
Yasmin Fahr: It's kind of embarrassing. I love meatballs, so I guess it first started when I went to the Little Owl in New York City in the West Village, and they have these amazing gravy meatball sliders that are so good. I even wrote an article or a research paper at NYU about spaghetti and meatballs because I wanted to figure out how the dish come to be because it's a very American thing because in Italy they have them as two separate courses. Obviously I've been obsessed with meatballs for a while and I went to this event at the Food & Wine Festival called Meatball Madness. Obviously I was super excited and I tend to get... I mean, I love food, but I tend to get really excited. When I saw it was meatballs, I was like, "Oh my God."
Yasmin Fahr: I just ate so many in a really short amount of time. While I love them, I don't eat that much meat all the time. I think my body was like, what did you just do? I definitely didn't feel great after. The meatball recipe in the book is a little bit lighter than the ones I was eating at that time.
Suzy Chase: Okay. The Little Owl is around the corner from me, and I've never had their meatballs. What is so special about those meatballs?
Yasmin Fahr: Oh, you have to go. I'm obsessed with them. They're made veal pork and beef, and they have this incredible kind of lightly spiced tomato sauce, and they're on... I think it's a Parmesan bun and then with a little bit of [inaudible 00:04:57] You just bite into it. The sauce kind of drips down and they're like the perfect size. They're more sliders, but small and bite size. They are so good, and that restaurant is just one of my favorites. It's super beautiful. I love the show Friends, so the fact that it's in the Friends building, all of it. I was like, oh, this is meant to be. Yes, I highly recommend them.
Suzy Chase: It seems like everyone has a go-to meatball recipe. I would love to discuss your baked chicken and ricotta meatballs on page 41. What's the backstory of this recipe?
Yasmin Fahr: Yeah, so obviously I have a thing for meatballs, but during the week night I want something that's a little lighter and not quite as heavy. I made ones with chicken, which tastes a bit lighter, and ricotta, which is super flavorful and adds a really like creamy and light texture to the meatballs, and then serving it with broccolini and lemon slices. It's really bright, tons of vegetables, and it's really easy to eat and make on a week night.
Suzy Chase: What's the first step? What's the first thing we do?
Yasmin Fahr: First, we take the sheet pan and toss the broccolini with the lemon in olive oil and set that aside, and then we make the meatball. In a mixing bowl you, beat the egg, add the garlic, ricotta, the seasonings like parsley and pepper, breadcrumbs, and meat, and then gently mix it together. Something for meatballs to always know is you don't want to squeeze it really tough or tight or it makes the meat really dense and tough at the end. You want to use your hands to mix it and just make sure that the ingredients are kind of all intermingles. You'll still see bits of meat, but just kind of lightly colored with the herbs.
Suzy Chase: I didn't know that. I always tried to squeeze my meatballs together like a golf ball.
Yasmin Fahr: Yeah, no, that's fine, but you want them to be kind of like loosely tapped, so not like super dense and tight.
Suzy Chase: What does ricotta bring to the flavor profile? I know you said it brings some creaminess, but what does it do for the food?
Yasmin Fahr: Well, I think the flavor is really light and mild, but soft. I think it adds kind of an airiness to the overall bite of it, and also it's really nice because you don't really overcook it when you have ricotta in there because it won't get quite as dense or tough as it would if you didn't have that. But if you didn't like ricotta, you could also add some Parmesan anyway or some chili flakes because meatballs are like really personal, so you can kind of make them your own.
Suzy Chase: I noticed that you didn't use any onions in this recipe. How come?
Yasmin Fahr: I was like, why didn't I use onions? But I think you actually could use some red onions on the sheet pan if you wanted to. They'll get really silky and soft and be really delicious. I think that's a great idea. Next time I'm just going to call you for recipes. I'll be like, "What do you think about this?"
Suzy Chase: Oh god. I'm just here to learn.
Yasmin Fahr: Right. You're doing great. Good question.
Suzy Chase: Then we nestle the meatball. I love how you wrote nestle. We nestle the meatballs between the broccolini and lemon slices for how long and at what temperature?
Yasmin Fahr: You want the oven to be hot at about 425, and you're just cooking them for about 15 to 20 minutes until they're cooked through and just turning them over halfway. You can always take a meatball and cut it open to see that there's no pink inside and it's done, but it's a really quick recipe and you want the broccolini also to be crispy. But yeah, it'll be ready really, really fast. Faster than delivery. There you go.
Suzy Chase: In the recipe you wrote, use this time to clean up and set the table and have a glass of wine if this stressed you out in way.
Yasmin Fahr: Yeah, I know. Well, I think sometimes cooking can be stressful for people and I really want it to be fun and enjoyable. Yes, I'm all about having glass of wine and enjoying yourself during the process.
Suzy Chase: How do we freeze these and how can we use leftovers?
Yasmin Fahr: Yes, you can definitely freeze them in kind of an airtight container, and then for leftovers, there's so many ways. I love taking a broth or a stalk and then adding some greens like kale or chard and then some noodles and then putting the meatballs and at the end to warm up, or you can eat them over like cooked greens or quinoa, rice with some maybe spinach stirred in and then the meatballs on top with some lemon zest. Yeah, there's a lot of ways that you need them, but they're great.
Suzy Chase: In the cookbook, your philosophy says, "Pantry staples will pull you out of your cooking rut."
Yasmin Fahr: I definitely believe in that. In my fridge, I have a ton of pastes and condiments like miso, Thai curry paste, dijon, and then outside I always have different rice and noodles, and then I also have fresh herbs and lemons, garlic, onions, these kinds of things. Because I think especially with pastes and condiments, they are such great tools to add a ton of flavor without a lot of time. In cooking, you really build flavor over time and that's a beautiful thing, but we don't always have that time on weeknights. These really do the work for you, which is what's so wonderful about them.
Suzy Chase: I've heard you say you can't live without your microplane. Talk a little bit about that.
Yasmin Fahr: Yes, it's such a great tool. You can use it for so many things. In the book, I use a lot for grading garlic because it's really quick. You don't really need to mince it or your hands will get smelly, but it's wonderful for lemon zest, Parmesan. You can even use it for ginger. I've also used it for like nutmeg or chocolate to finish like wintery boozy cocktails. Just a really great tool. It's about $15, so it's not super expensive, and it'll will last a long time.
Suzy Chase: If we search your recipes online, we will find a common theme. What is that?
Yasmin Fahr: Definitely feta. I feel like if you even read some of the comments, if there's a recipe that doesn't have feta, someone's like, "Wait, Yasmin, there's no feta in this recipe?" Clearly people have picked up on it. Yeah, there's an essay in the book called, "I have a thing for feta because I just grew up eating feta and I love it so much." Definitely it's in a lot of the recipes in the book, but I had to take it out of some because my editor was like, "Yasmin, this is not a feta cookbook. You can't have feta in every single recipe." But yeah, so definitely feta.
Suzy Chase: That's hilarious. Too much feta. Enough with the feta.
Yasmin Fahr: I know. Exactly. Stop.
Suzy Chase: What's your favorite kind of feta?
Yasmin Fahr: I love Bulgarian feta. Bulgarian feta... Greek feta is technically a protected designation of origin, so it's kind of like champagne that can only be made in champagne discerned specifications. Anything other than Greek feta is supposed to be called a feta style cheese. But the European laws don't really apply as much here, so we still call them Bulgarian feta. Bulgarian feta is always... Oh, can be a mix of sheep's, cow, and goat's milk, but it's usually mostly sheep. It's really creamy and tangy and often found in the brine, which is the kind of salty like murky liquid you see it in. Greek feta is a least 70% sheep's milk and no more than 30% goat's milk. I don't know. I think the flavor of Bulgaria is just something that I grew up with and I really love.
Yasmin Fahr: I feel like it adds so much to the dish, like it really can add the creamy component, but it's also really light, and it has a ton of flavor. I say go Bulgarian, but if you can't find that, feta in the brine is equally as good.
Suzy Chase: Is Bulgarian easy to find?
Yasmin Fahr: I mean, it's going to be at Whole Foods. It'll be at like Cheesemongers, but sometimes in supermarkets you tend to only find those kind of packaged like cryovac feta that's really dry and caky and doesn't have that creamy crumbly texture that you want. I would say try to avoid those if you can.
Suzy Chase: What's your favorite recipe in the cookbook with feta?
Yasmin Fahr: Oh, that's so hard. I would say the baked feta is one of my favorites. It's in the oven to table chapter. Everything's made in a sheet pan. You put it in, walk away, and then it's ready. This is one that's cooked with kale and chickpeas, some spices, and then blocks of feta. Kale gets really crispy, so do the chickpeas, and then the feta gets even like creamier. It's really delicious. I don't even know how to fully describe the taste of it, and it makes for wonderful leftovers that you can mix it with eggs, again, with grains. This is one I make all the time and even swap out the kale for broccolini, broccoli, mushrooms, and you can change some of the spices for cumin. Just a really easy, simple dish. Once you master the technique, you can definitely make it your own.
Suzy Chase: On Monday night, I made your recipe for Miso Ghee chicken with Roasted Radishes on page 28. Can you describe this dish?
Yasmin Fahr: Yay. I'm so happy you made it. I love that one. Basically I make a miso-ghee like compound butter. That's when you take a butter and you mix it with herbs or spices. I'm using ghee set of butter in this one. You make it and you put it outside of the chicken, and you kind of lift up the chicken skin and make this little pocket and tuck it in there, so it infuses the chicken with this incredibly intense aromatic nutty flavor. It's just so wonderful and it makes the skin really crispy. You cook it in there, and then halfway through, you add radishes. What I love about radishes is that they taste like potatoes when they're cooked. You get that tasty delicious flavor, but it's a little bit lighter for the weeknight.
Yasmin Fahr: Then you can finish it under the broiler and you top it off with some scallions and sesame seeds, and you have a really easy dinner.
Suzy Chase: Yes, I don't love radishes, but they totally turn into potatoes when you roast them.
Yasmin Fahr: Right?
Suzy Chase: It was crazy.
Yasmin Fahr: It's so cool. I'm always on the fence about radishes too and someone told me about that and I was like, "This is incredible." Yeah, I've definitely become a fan ever since.
Suzy Chase: The miso ghee combination made it so crispy.
Yasmin Fahr: It's so good. It just smells so incredible too. If you even take miso and ghee and toss it with soba noodles and some spinach like wilt in there with some scallions on top, it's such an easy weeknight meal and it smells unbelievable.
Suzy Chase: My 13 year old said, "miso good." He was trying to be funny.
Yasmin Fahr: No, that's cute. Did he like it?
Suzy Chase: He loved it.
Yasmin Fahr: Oh my God. I feel like having a 13 year old like it is huge.
Suzy Chase: Yes.
Yasmin Fahr: That's fantastic, right?
Suzy Chase: You've done your job.
Yasmin Fahr: That's a big compliment.
Suzy Chase: Yeah.
Yasmin Fahr: Yeah, exactly. Job well done.
Suzy Chase: What does this recipe have to do with your holistic facialist?
Yasmin Fahr: That probably sounds sort of funny. I started seeing this holistic facialist in Brooklyn about seven or eight years ago and she's so incredible. She really is someone who look at your skin and say, "Oh, you're not..." For me, she was saying, "You're not eating enough meat at this time because you don't have enough minerals." She basically tell my diet just by looking at my skin. She was the one who told me to start drinking bone broth about seven, eight years ago before it kind of became a thing. She says that ghee and butter are really good fats for your skin to kind of keep them plump, and so I began cooking with ghee. Now I use ghee probably as much as I use olive oil. That's how I got hooked on ghee.
Suzy Chase: Now for my segment called my favorite cookbook. Aside from this cookbook, what is your all time favorite cookbook and why?
Yasmin Fahr: Pellegrino Artusi, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well. It's from the late 1800s. The way he writes is just so funny and beautiful, and it's really interesting just to read how recipes were written back then.
Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?
Yasmin Fahr: My Twitter and Instagram are Yasmin Fahr, so Y-A-S-M-I-N F-A-H-R, and then my website is my full name dot co, rather than dot com.
Suzy Chase: Well, thanks, Yasmin, for chatting with me on Cookery by the Book Podcast.
Yasmin Fahr: Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun.
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