Anna Hezel’s Party Tricks for Relaxed Entertaining

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Welcome back to the Dinner Plan where we start every week with fresh cooking inspiration.

I'm Maggie Hoffman and my guest today is Anna Hezel.

She's the author of Lasagna and Tin to Table and she's written for a ton of publications

including New York Magazine, The New York Times and Best Food Blog.

She was an editor at Taste and we used to work together editing Epicurious and now she's

written a really cool new book, Party Tricks.

Easy, elegant recipes for snacking and hosting and it's so good to see you.

Thank you for having me, Maggie.

It's just been way too long.

It has been.

We used to talk about cooking all the time every day.

Yeah, you know, and I think about the way that we would talk about cooking and the way

that we would look at cookbooks and it just inspires so much of what I do now.

I also loved seeing in this new book of yours some things that I know you were thinking

about in the days that we were sort of noodling over ideas and it's so fun to see them come

to life and this book is gorgeous.

Thank you.

Like I was going through it with my kid and looking at all the illustrations and the photos

and the sort of before the party photos and the after the party photos and it's just,

it's so fun.

Thank you.

So I feel like cookbooks so often present aspirational cooking but I want to make sure

this show also shares what cookbook authors actually cook at home in real life.

It's something you've cooked lately.

The other night I made this recipe, maybe you've made it before.

It's Christina Chase, saucy tofu noodles with cucumbers and chili crisp.

It's from Bon Appetit and it's sort of Christina's take on Dan Dan noodles with tofu.

Like it's totally meatless and it's just one of my favorite, most satisfying ways of eating

a package of curly, wavy ramen noodles.

And I just make like I'll double the batch and eat it over the course of a few nights

too.

That's just like exactly what I want to eat.

Yeah, it's saucy, it's packed with carbs but also protein and then I steal this trick

from Christina all the time of just thinly slicing and quick pickling some cucumbers as sort

of like the salad element.

A pickle is a salad.

Yeah, I think so.

We are keeping it very real here.

I gotta tell you, one of the better meals I had this week, I have not been really cooking

but I had really low expectations because I had like a cup of pasta sauce that had been

in my freezer for a couple of months and it was this long cooked duck ragu that was made

with pork.

I made it over the holidays because it felt kind of fancy.

It had star anise and cinnamon sort of warm spices and then I also had half of a can

of tomatoes because I really feel like unless you're making a big batch of something, I need

to start buying like smaller containers of tomatoes but I had one of those like Bianca

tomatoes, big ones.

So I had like half of that from something else and I had frozen the rest with a promise

to myself that I would do something with it which doesn't always happen.

So I wanted to turn it all into one thing and it worked.

So I like dumped in the tomato and I had a bunch of non-alcoholic white wine which I'd never

cooked with before and I cooked that part just the tomato to try to make it saucy for

a long time.

Like I put it on the stove and a couple hours later came back and then I mixed in that

takarago like literally just a cup.

It wasn't quite working and I added a little colabrian chili and some dried mushroom powder

and then it still like wasn't feeling like bulky enough so I added a can of butter beans

and then some pasta and it was like the best meal we've had in weeks.

Wow.

Who would have thought that one cup of ragu in the freezer?

Yeah.

I mean this is not helpful to anyone because unless you have it in half but I think if

you had like oh you had me to braise whatever a short rib a pork shoulder whatever like

it's worth saving just that cup it's your flavorful fat that you've spent so many hours developing

and you can kind of like change the direction of it because it is only a cup it's providing

some richness but it doesn't have to like be totally the same thing again so I felt

proud of myself because I tends to just like throw things in the freezer and forget

about them.

Yeah but this is the takeaway.

Throw a cup of that ragu in the freezer next time you make a big pot.

Yeah.

Yeah so things have really changed in your household since I saw you last what is dinner

looking like at your place these days.

Yeah I had a baby three months ago so that's sort of shaken up my cooking routine.

I really learned to love a meal that fits in one bowl and that can be eaten with one

hand especially if there's some protein in there like if it's not just box macaroni

and cheese that's a win.

So one of the things I've been making a lot is various types of lentil soups partially

because it's a little chilly out but it's also just like a format of food that you can

remake, week over week, shake things up a little bit and you just need one available

hand to eat it to shovel it into your mouth.

And it can sit on the stove if dinner is like oh yeah she's up you gotta go and back

like the uncertainty of what time dinner is means that like something fast can actually

be like the bad thing yes because if you like sear something and then have to leave

that doesn't work.

Yeah it's so true.

Yeah I've made just in like the last couple months I made a lentil soup from Kira Wright

Ruiz's book my half Latinx kitchen.

I made an otolangi red lentil soup with canned tomato and coconut milk which was really

good.

And then there's a Melissa Clark red lentil soup from the New York Times that I make all

the time.

That's just kind of her version of like a Turkish lentil soup.

Is it a lemony?

Yeah she squeezes a little lemon on at the end which is very clutch.

And you're not tired of lentils?

No I've eaten so many lentils this winter but I'm not tired of them yet.

Do you think it's changed?

I mean I feel like people who create food websites and magazines like you're looking to inspire

people you're looking to do things that might be a little ambitious and that might be

interesting to read obviously but when you go through a time in your life where everything

changes how is that changed just like your attitude about what dinner can be?

Yeah I mean I definitely have had to get less impulsive about cooking when I was like editing

for Epicurious I would see a recipe that we published and just run out after work

and get those ingredients and cook it because I would be so excited.

And now I have to be a little more pre-meditated.

I have to think about cooking something that will last for a few meals ideally.

So a lot less impulsive and a lot more cooking projects that I know will pay off over a few

days.

Like batches of granola last night I cone feed like a big pile of mushrooms just on a stove

on the stove top and a little dutch oven for a couple hours and now I have these very

flavorful mushrooms to just spoon on to whatever I eat all week.

It feels wild to cook like in the evening even after dinner but sometimes that's the

window that's open.

Yeah totally it's like you have half an hour to just get something done in the kitchen,

run the dishwasher, start a batch of cookies, anything goes.

And those mushrooms will be so good like even just like on eggs, on toast, on beans,

on lentil soup.

Yeah totally yeah soup topping.

I want to get into the problem of dinner more later on but let's talk about the book

because it is such a delight to you what makes a great party.

I think whether you're being really ambitious and really fancy with what you're cooking

or being really casual in ordering pizza I think it's so important to offer people a drink

when they walk in.

That's a bit of a cliche at this point but I think it's so important.

Have something for people to drink the second they walk in your apartment and all

also have something to eat the second they walk in because too often that you get ambitious

about hosting, you cook something really exciting but it just takes a little bit longer

than you planned.

So I love having some crudite, some chips, some toasted nuts that I have like plans

and put out before anyone walks in the door.

So that person who walks in starving has something to munch on while I'm finishing the rest

of the food.

And what is your ideal feeling for a party?

I would say like any party that feels warm and inviting, it kind of doesn't matter how

fancy it is or how nice the person's home is, I've had plenty of people over in a very

messy apartment.

I think just having a creating a little bit of an inviting environment and especially

if the host is sort of relaxed, like if I as the host I'm not holding up in the kitchen

stressing and muttering curse words under my breath about something I'm cooking, that

really I think that's a relaxed tone for the night.

So a lot of the recipes in this book have like a vintage feeling and the design of the

book has sort of a vintage feeling.

What are some of the older recipes that inspired some of these dishes?

So there's this recipe that I've made for years from an old James Beard cookbook called

Shrimp Butter and you basically poach shrimp and then like mince them or blend them with

butter to spread on crackers.

And I always have just found that so charming.

So I've made versions of this over the years for like Christmas with my family or for cocktail

parties or I'll just even like spread it on a little bit of bread and make a simple sandwich.

But I love the sort of vintage charm of like blending up shrimp with butter and a little

bit of onion and some parsley sort of whatever you have in the fridge that will brighten

that mixture up and then like just serve it in a cute glass dish with the stack of

saltines.

That's so fun.

I mean love the sandwich but a saltine sort of does say like okay we're having fun

here.

Yeah, saltines are amazing.

And I love them.

So your butter needs to be not like from the freezer or the fridge like you take it out

earlier.

Do you have a preferred butter for this?

Does it matter?

Is it salted?

Unsalted.

I don't think it matters that much.

I mean I love buying fancy butter from time to time but when I'm blending it with other

flavors I'm not super precious about it.

Is there something we can learn from the ways people used to entertain maybe in those

James Beard books?

Is there something we can copy there?

I think one of the biggest takeaways for me from sort of like entertaining 70 years

ago, 50 years ago is the semi homemade attitude which I think is sort of like being reinvented

today.

I think about parties that my grandma used to have where she would buy like canned shrimp,

canned cream of tomato soup, a block of cream cheese and then like mix that all up into

like a dip, a mousse.

And that of course sounds so gross to me but like that is sort of like another version

of what I'm doing with this book like buy in a nice cheese, buy in a nice piece of

sharkudari, remixing these ingredients in a way that feels like some thought has been

put into them.

And as long as you call it mousse, like?

Yeah, sure, yeah.

It's sort of like is there that much of a difference between buying those like canned

of cream of tomato soup and like the Spanish sardines that I buy and keep it my apartment

at the end of the night, not that different?

Is there something you absolutely don't want to emulate from like cocktail parties of

the past?

I look at pictures of parties my grandma had in like the 60s and they were astoundingly

formal.

Everyone sort of like dressed up and that's not the way I entertain today.

I like a party where people feel comfortable showing up however they're comfortable, however

they're dressed and I don't really dress up.

I'm usually wearing like the same sort of stained dirty jeans that I wore while cooking

and getting ready for the party.

So I think just like that like rigid formality, toning that down a little bit and yeah I think

like the modern version of entertaining is much more casual and relaxed.

Yeah, I remember I was digging in some old gourmet magazines and there was this thing

about how you know a newlywed couple would sort of be judged on the way that they entertained.

I mean I don't know your friends but like I think your friends are not judging you and

in fact people are delighted to you know eat those saltines and hang out and maybe sit

on the floor and you can set that tone now.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, I've been to some amazing parties at people's apartments where there are like piles

of dirty laundry in the corner and that's just like the reality, that's okay.

And I think if you really get to be together and you feel comfortable you know with their

laundry or whatever it's going to be a more real relationship builder than if everyone's

sort of acting proper.

Yeah, 100%.

Yeah, it's more honest.

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So this book is really snacky, we're not talking about like the six-person dinner party

at the table necessarily to you what makes good party food.

I like a party where you can sort of compose whatever little meal or whatever little

bite fits your mood or appetite as a guest.

Like I love a party snack or a ray where you can sort of compose your perfect bite.

Like just the right amount of dip that you want on your chip.

Or I have a recipe in party tricks for fried dates with pickled celery and blue cheese.

And it's sort of like a deconstructed devil on horseback.

But the idea is that you can have a bite of pickled celery, have a bite of cheese.

Or like combine them in whatever sort of configuration you feel like.

Or maybe you start out with a piece of that stinky cheese and then your dessert for

that five minute period of time is the date.

I totally need a dessert for every five minute period.

I like switching back and forth every bite sweet savory.

But yeah, I like just a spread that sort of gives people options for their dietary restrictions

but also just like whatever mood they're in at that moment in the party.

I have made this pickled celery twice now.

I am obsessed with it.

It is so good.

It has, it's definitely like a pickle, but it's not as aggressive as some.

It's very refreshing, still crunchy.

I have done the whole array, but I've also like put them in a sandwich, which was awesome, cool.

Put them in a salad, serve them with a cheese plate.

I would double those if you're going to make them.

Thank you.

Thanks for that tip.

I also, in the book, I put them in a martini as the place of the olive.

That sounds so good.

I feel like there are some weird sort of like savory snops that are different like vegetables.

You could do something really interesting like make like a carrot, martini with a celery

thing.

Like celery bitters you can buy, like make you a regular martini and put in the celery

bitters in the pickled celery.

Love that.

What makes a dish not great for a party?

I mean, it really depends on the style of entertaining you want to do, but I don't like

to serve anything at a party that's like really dependent on being a specific temperature.

I love something that has a little flexibility where like it can taste great straight out

of the oven, but also 30 minutes later when you know some of your guests will just be

making their way over to that dish.

So even though it's all snacks, you still sort of think about it in courses.

What's the thinking behind that?

Yeah, I love, I mean, again, this is so dependent on what style of entertaining you're doing.

How many people you're having over, but I love even a casual snacky party where there

are a few surprises along the way throughout the night.

Like I said, I love to have some chips, crudite, nuts, out the second people walk in, but

I think it's also so fun to pull like a big savory tart or like a skillet of little

sizzling cherry tomatoes out of the oven and have like a really warm sort of like slightly

more substantial snack enter the scene after people have been hanging out for an hour

too.

And then like one of my favorite party tricks is to pull a tray of warm chocolate chip cookies

out of the oven at the end of the night.

That's a pro move.

Yeah, people are like, when did you make cookies?

And I'm like, last week, you're in the freezer.

And okay, so if you made them last week, you're making little balls and freezing them.

Yeah, which I've done like since college because sometimes you just want one or two fresh

warm chocolate chip cookies.

But the chocolate chip cookies in party tricks are sort of like, they're sort of a classic

chocolate chip cookie, but I rolled them in black sesame seeds and chopped up pistachios.

So when they bake in flattened, they're sort of like coated with this little crunchy nutty

in casing.

So good.

How do you know when it's time for the cookies?

I think like an hour, two hours before I want people to start going home, maybe.

It's a signal, but it's not a rush.

Yeah, or like, I guess when I start to notice people slowing down on the other snacks that

are out.

I think we need a little excitement here.

We need a little, a little change of pace.

It's like a playlist.

Yeah, totally.

I think some people hesitate to host because it feels overwhelming.

It can be expensive.

It's a lot of work.

Our homes might not be perfect.

Why is it worth it?

Why should we have parties?

I think even just like some of the best parties I've been to have been at apartments

where everyone's crammed in, everyone's passing in a bottle of wine back and forth.

And I think no matter how polished you feel like your apartment is or your home or your

menu, I think it is just so inviting to invite someone over to your home.

And on top of all of that, it's so much less expensive than going out to eat or like

going to a bar to drink.

So even if you like want to buy a few nice bottles of wine, usually that's a lot less

expensive at home than it is at a restaurant.

Yeah, I mean, I think even at times where just feeding yourself feels overwhelming, planning

a party can sort of inspire you again.

You know, as a cook, you have a project.

It's meant to be fun.

And I think, you know, okay, why are we talking about parties on a podcast about weeknight

dinners?

But I think if you were feeling that you're in a rut, it could be that what you need

is to be with friends, even if it's a pollock.

Yeah, I think like asking yourself the question of what do I want to cook for my friends?

Is it good?

Sometimes answer to the question of what do I want to cook for myself?

What makes you think about cooking and just sort of like what would be fun?

Yeah.

What would be delightful instead of like, oh, I do chicken on Wednesdays.

Right.

Yeah.

Or like time to start up another pound of lentils on the stove.

I mean, you could have a fun lentil soup party.

Definitely.

It's definitely something I will.

And like do little toppings.

I mean, that's the thing.

As soon as it becomes a party, then it's like, oh, what would be fun?

Well, you could have like a little assortment of like crunchy things to put on top.

Or you could ask everyone to bring, we, I've written about this, but we once had a party

where we asked everyone to bring a different jar of mustard.

And then we just like grilled a bunch of sausages.

That was literally it.

And it was so fun to have it to kind of gamify it in that way.

And in the end, we decided mustard's great.

Like, they're truly...

You still have those jars of mustard in your refrigerator.

I think we have finally gotten through them, but it may have taken a year.

Which I think we determined was acceptable when we like, we're writing all those stories

about how long does whatever last.

Yeah, mustard can last a year, I believe it.

And we did discover some favorites, but mostly it was just so fun and a reason to be together.

I mean, I'm also just thinking, what was the best party you've had?

Before the pandemic, like New Year's Eve, 2020, or New Year's Eve, 2019 into 2020,

my now husband and I had a New Year's party.

And we always think of it as like the last party, because, yeah, it was like right before

we were working from home and sort of like locking down in our apartment.

But it was like a big fun party where our apartment was like completely packed with people.

And it was a lot of fun.

And you are a person who keeps things around for parties.

You've got glassware from thrift stores and flea markets.

I do really like keeping glasses around.

Like, I'm really pro serving drinks in actual glass.

And it doesn't have to be fancy, like,

but even just glasses from IKEA or from my dollar store,

I think are a more pleasant experience than drinking out of a plastic cup.

So I love keeping actual glasses around.

Some of them are like packed away in closets for when I have big parties.

Also, I love, I think it's so fun to order cocktail picks online.

There are so many types, like any theme party you could want.

Any color scheme you want for your sort of party.

I think that's a really fun, easy thing to order online and keep around.

Candles, I recently started buying wholesale boxes of taper candles

so that I just always have them.

And I think that's just a fun way of dressing up my apartment really quickly.

I thought of one more really great party that we had.

Yeah, tell me.

Our first apartment in New York.

We had a party where somebody walked down to the lower side

and bought $20 worth of dollar dumplings,

which back then I think it was like $10 for a dollar.

Somebody bought $20 worth and got in a cab and came back to the apartment.

And that was the party.

That's amazing.

That's actually last Thanksgiving.

I had just a bunch of friends, sort of people who were left over in the city

over Thanksgiving, had them all over for just giant containers of takeout dumplings.

And I made some sesame noodles, some smashed cucumber salad.

So I'm very in favor of a partially takeout inspired party.

Absolutely.

I mean, I've also seen people talk about you could cook snacks, advertisers,

salads, and get a takeout main course.

You could get buckets of fried chicken, you could get rotisserie chicken.

It doesn't, you can be somewhere in between totally DIY and totally ordered.

Definitely.

Yeah.

Yeah, because if you ate those foods at the place, at the restaurant,

you wouldn't have all of the drinks, all of the little touches, the dessert, the snacks.

Talk us through how you think about the menu and what different dishes you want to make.

Usually, when I start to get excited about having a party, it's because of one particular

dish I really want to make, or a drink that I really want to make.

And so usually it starts there.

Last year I had this party where I really wanted to make a lamb cake, which is sort of

like a phenomenon that Bronwyn Wyatt from Bayou St. Cakes in New Orleans started posting

her sort of technique for making a little lamb out of cake, using like a loaf pan and

a cupcake pan.

And it just sort of like caught on and she started reposting other people's interpretations

of lamb cakes.

So I just got really excited to make a lamb cake.

And then I designed a party around that like, I know I want to make this cake.

What else?

So I made some focaccia, I made, I think the whipped feta dip from party tricks, potato chips,

crudite, like, yeah, just it sort of expanded from the dessert point.

I like that.

That's a good entry point.

If you were hosting really last minute, what are some of the like, easiest, maybe star

bot comes into it, options that you would put together?

So there's a recipe in party tricks that's sort of inspired by a wine bar in Paris that

does a dish of ham and hazelnuts, where they just serve like beautifully toasted hazelnuts

on a plate of fancy, accurate ham.

And I've seen this, like, I think, a septime la cove in Paris was maybe like the first

place to do this, but I've seen it pop up at so many other wine bars.

And after trying it at home, I really was so sold on the combination.

Like especially you get like a really nice, cured iberico ham or serrano ham or just

like whatever your meat and cheese store has.

And you toast hazelnuts in butter and then I like to just do a little bit of lemon zest

or like a squeeze of lemon juice on top.

And it really only takes a couple of minutes, like once you have those ingredients, and

it's so good.

It's just texturally you kind of pick up a piece of ham with some hazelnuts in the middle

and chomp down on that.

And it feels like a really rounded dish with just those few ingredients.

My other really easy, fast one is just like a little dish of creme fresh topped with

trout roe or salmon roe or whatever, little fish eggs you want to throw on there to

look pretty with salt and vinegar chips.

Something about that trio of flavors feels like so much more than what it is.

And I like that you put it right on top because I think if you do like, here's a bowl

of salmon roe, here's a creme fresh, people will be kind of like shy about it, but if

you dump it right on top, it's just like eat it.

It's dead.

Yeah.

Cause you don't want the roe just sitting in a jar out for very long.

You want people to eat it.

Tell me about some of your favorite ways to use store-bought puff pastry.

Yeah.

I have used it to make chicken pot pies.

I've used it to make baked camembert, which is really fun.

Then party tricks, I have sort of like a flexible recipe where you can make this ricotta,

this like seasoned ricotta filling, spread it on frozen puff pastry and then top it with

any sort of variety of savory toppings.

And then you bake it and it just is like a giant rectangular savory tart.

So it's really fun if you want something a little more substantial for a party or

and you want like a little variety, you can just pick up a few packs of frozen puff pastry,

make the ricotta mixture ahead of time and then when people are walking in, you can

put these colorful seasonal tarts from the oven.

What kind of things are we putting on top of the ricotta?

It's like mushrooms cook down the little bit of vinegar, so parsely, really flavorful,

and delicious.

In the summertime, I've done thin slivers of peach with thin slices of red onion, little

fresh thyme on at the end.

That can be really pretty, but you could also use like other stone fruit you have throughout

the year.

Apricots, plums would be really good.

Also, in the springtime asparagus is really pretty, just like in long ribbons across the

tart, really nice green option.

So to make a ribbon, you do a vegetable peeler?

Yeah, I mean, and it depends on like how big your asparagus is.

If it's like really skinny, you can just leave it whole.

But I find that a little nicely flavored ricotta and some frozen puff pastry means that

you can turn kind of any pretty seasonal produce into a little savory tart.

So I'm glad I'm talking to you today because I am actually having a small party this weekend

and haven't figured out the details yet.

But one thing I can't stop thinking about is the matrimonio tartine, which is so beautiful.

Can you tell us about that?

Yeah, the matrimonio tartine is inspired by a classic Spanish pincho, which is like

a little drinking snack.

And in Spain, you might find this pincho on like a little slice of baguette.

And the matrimonio part, it's like about the marriage between two contrasting styles

of anchovy.

So you have the vinegar-marinated bocaronis, and you have the more classic, what we think

of an anchovy, like the salt-cured anchovy.

And it's all about having a bite with both of those at the same time.

So my version is instead of being on like a little round of bread, you just take a baguette,

cut it in half lengthwise, and slather it with a tomato chili butter.

And then you just sort of like make little diagonal stripes with the two different types

of anchovies.

So the butter is a little garlicky, a little sweet, a little tangy.

And then you get the one-two punch of really salty, savory anchovies, and the pickily-beneggry

anchovies, too.

This is so simple, it's basically just putting stuff on bread, but it looks gorgeous.

Thank you.

I also, because I have a lot of vegetarian friends, I started making, like if you have one

baguette, two long halves, you can do one with the anchovies.

And then I will do one that's just like a variety of pickled peppers.

Some little halved red bird's beak peppers, which I think are just so pretty.

Some of the long spindly green paparas, the Spanish, India peppers, and that flavor combination

I think is also really awesome with the tomato butter, but it's also just like really pretty.

Amazing.

I have been getting those peppers all the time and using the brine a lot.

Now I feel like I'm running out of brine faster than I'm running out of peppers, because

I'm putting it in salad dressings, putting it in martinis, and all kinds of stuff, sauces.

So maybe I'll do that, too.

Yeah, you got it.

Awesome.

Okay, so we're going to run the recipe for the anchovy one in the newsletter, so you guys

can all make it, too.

If you're hosting a party, you might need the days leading up to it to be really easy.

What are some simple meals that you like to make for dinner when you need things to be

easy?

We talked about lentil soup, love lentil soup.

I also am all the time eating little rice bowls with tinsfish, so there's a really, really

simple Eric Kim, New York Times recipe for a tuna mayo rice bowl, where he just kind

of matches can tuna with mayo and puts it on rice.

And I'll do like some version of that where I mix in a little gojujang and sesame oil

and I'll do like a quick pickled cucumber, a little sliced avocado, and then I'll eat

it all with seaweed snacks to make it feel a little textural, so I'm not just eating like

tuna mush, which is better than it sounds, like it can be pretty delicious.

So that's one, there's also a Melissa Clark skillet greens with eggs that I make a lot

that has some pancetta and peas, and that's just like a really satisfying way of eating

a giant skillet of greens, which sometimes I feel like I need to get ready to have a party

with like a lot of cheese and meats, and oh, and in the summer, I eat a lot of silk

and tofu like uncooked as just like a really quick, easy pre-entertaining kind of dinner.

So there's like a Lucas Voldier recipe on Epicureus where he like sort of softened some

cherry tomatoes in a little bit of soy sauce and dumps that over a silk and tofu, and

it's just like only a few ingredients, but really satisfying.

Hey listeners, it's Lon Lam from America's Test Kitchen.

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How are you feeling about cooking in this new era of your life?

I'm still really excited about cooking, especially like after the first couple months of having

a baby, like I feel like I'm finally getting back to being able to do little projects

here and there.

So yeah, I've had to like sort of adapt and become less impulsive with my cooking, but

I'm still really excited about it.

Yes, so why do those little projects?

What does it do for your mental health and how you're feeling?

I think it just is so nice to have a little bit of a control over your weekly routine

and just getting to like eat something that you've made by hand can be a real luxury

in that way.

Like not eating the same, like I mentioned, I'm eating a lot of box macaroni and cheese,

but it can feel really powerful to be able to like eat a really nice crunola that I made

to or a lot of fresh vegetables that I've cooked for myself.

I don't know if you've seen, we have this list of all the cookbooks, everyone who's

come on the show has recommended, so I'm hoping you brought some suggestions too.

Yes, so okay, this year, especially, I've been cooking a lot out of my half-led next

kitchen by Kiera Wright Ruiz.

I mentioned it earlier because there is a lentil soup that I made recently, but this

cookbook I just think is so fun, but also so realistic for home cooks.

Often I'll just be like tired and hungry and will be the afternoon and I'll open up

that book and there's something that I can actually run to the grocery store and

make without hours and hours of preparation.

And yeah, I just, everything I've cooked out of that book is really, really good.

And the stories are really beautiful and incredible sort of mash-up of memoir writing and really

solid recipes.

Omricon by Kushbusha, similarly, like everything I've cooked out of that is so fun, that is

a book about Indian-American diaspora cooking and she just has so much fun with the recipes.

Like I made a Rice Krispies fell recipe.

I made the Makini mac and cheese, which is like so crazy, it's so good.

Just like everything I've cooked out of that book has been really solid.

I also have been loving reading Ken by Marie Mitchell that came out in the U.S. last

year and Marie is a British chef whose parents are Jamaican and the book sort of like looks

at Caribbean diaspora cooking and she'll sort of like reimagine how the traditions of

jerk can work in a home kitchen, even if you don't have a giant smoker in your backyard.

I love to hear these kinds of recommendations because you know we're so focused on like

this is coming out and this is coming out and that's all so exciting and this year's books

are truly exciting this spring is really packed with really exciting books but also last year's

books were great too and you know I want to hear how does it actually translate in your real

life and these books that like if you've made bunches of recipes from a book from last year

that's a really valuable recommendation. Yeah and I don't know how you feel but as a food editor

and writer I never have time to really put the cookbook to the test when it's coming out

or like when it's about to come out it's always after I've sat with the book on my shelf for

a couple years that I can actually be like wow this book really has some weight to it.

Yeah I'm trying to not run out of space and told myself that like if I pull a book from the

shelf and I feel drawn to bookmark three four five recipes like then it's keeper and of course

there are books that I just keep for reading but that's really the test then you just got to

really cook up. Yeah it's true but yeah but also when when I find a cookbook that's just like

a great read where I'm actually learning so much more about that cuisine or that person's experience

than I could from a recipe app that also I am always excited to make space for those books on my

shelf. I'm running out of shelf space. Yeah we all are. Are there any new books that you're

excited about? Rashad Frazier has a cookbook out this spring. He's the founder of Camp Yoshi

and he's like a chef and caterer who started a camping and outdoorsy sort of like outdoors adventure

company and he does this beautiful sort of like camping cooking outdoors cooking. It's inspired

by nature and it's like foraging and I find his work really inspiring so I'm excited about that book.

Oh Natasha Pikwitz's everyone hot pot also such a cool book. I just started reading that the other

day I'm interested in reading more. It is fabulous and you know it's about having parties. Yeah

exactly. She came on the show and was sort of saying you know in some ways this is the easiest

way to entertain because you sort of just put your ingredients on the table. Like you could cook,

you could make dumplings and put them in the freezer, you could make scallion pancakes and put

them in the freezer but like also you could get out like a cake plate and cover it with beautiful

grains that you bought and that's kind of it. Yeah and she of course does it like so beautifully even

just the way she arranges leaves of lettuce. Totally. It makes you want to arrange leaves of lettuce

on the cake sheet. Absolutely. What are you looking forward to cooking as we finally get into spring?

I'm actually I'm going to Maine in a few weeks and it's sort of off season for a trip to Maine.

I don't really know like what what I'll be finding at markets but I'm excited to just have like

usually when I'm in Maine it's the middle of summer and there's lobster everywhere but I'm excited

about looking at the seafood from a springy perspective. I bet the seafood will be tasting fabulous.

I think so. I hope so. Like maybe I'll make a guia base or like some other kind of stew.

Sounds really nice. You could always if there's not stuff growing up there quite yet you could also

like bring up green garlic from the city or you could make an herb butter at home and then

put it on whatever you find. That's such a good idea because you never know if the rental house is

going to have like a blender. Exactly and who wants to be doing that when you're yeah but if

you freeze it like a travel fine and be fun. Smart. I was just looking at Sheldon Simian's book

and he has escargot style mushrooms. So I had that kind of herb butter in my head. That's so smart.

Like I mean you can picture exactly what this is and it totally makes sense.

Totally. Okay so the last thing we do on every episode is to play a voice memo from a listener

who's looking for ideas for what to make for dinner based on what they have on hand. This one

is from Christie. Hey this is Maggie you've reached the dinner plan and tell us what's in your

fridge. Hey guys calling from Central Illinois. I always have beef and sausage in my freezer

because my sister has a farm. I usually have pasta of some sort always in the freezer as well

as cheese and the usual suspects of garlic and onion. I think obviously my mind goes to like

a meaty ragu. Don't forget to put one cup of it in the freezer for later to turn into ragu 2.0.

I think this could also be the base of a beautiful pasta fuzzule. If Christie had like a can of beans

and a can of tomatoes this could be an amazing pasta fuzzule. Just like brown the meat in a big

dutch oven skim it off with like a slotted spoon and then cook down some of those onions and garlic

and then really just like dump in the canned beans, canned tomatoes, some water or broth

and then like add the meat back in and cook the pasta in the last 10 minutes or so. That would be an

awesome soup. I think finish it with a little cheese even. That sounds great. I also I don't know

why this comes to mind but I'm picturing if you have a lot of onions you could do like a

sheet pan baked pasta like make that kind of sauce and cook the pasta like just sure of being done

and put it on a sheet pan with lots of onions and then you might get little crispy bits which you

have the sausage and cheese. I think that could be a fun sort of change up from a sort of standard

pasta. Hmm sounds great. All right so the book is called party tricks. Anna do you want to

tell people where to find you online? Hi I'm on Instagram at a heazle and you can find party tricks

wherever you like to buy books. Thank you so much for doing this. Thanks for having me.

Thank you so much for listening all the way through today's show. I hope you're also

subscribed to the dinner plan newsletter. That's where you'll get the free recipe of the week

and all the links to everything Anna mentioned today on the show. You can find it at the

dinnerplan.substack.com. Thanks to Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio and to my

guest today Anna Heazle.