Think French cooking only means expensive cheese, multi-course meals, and elaborate pastries? Melissa Clark joins us to say otherwise. Her latest book, Dinner In French: My Recipes By Way of France is full of elegant but practical recipes that show just how adaptable French cooking can be no matter where you call home.
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Dinner in French for Busy Families
Stacie considers Melissa Clark one of the best food writers of our time. (Agree?) Her writing and recipes are elegant and sophisticated, but practical enough to work for busy home cooks. And her latest, Dinner In French: My Recipes By Way of France, is further proof.
In this week’s episode, Melissa talks to us about how to extend French flavors and technique into your kitchen. Really.
With her laid-back approach and smart time-saving tips, you can cook like you live in the French countryside. Even if you’re just in Boise or Brooklyn.
Here are links from this week’s conversation:
Dinner in An Instant (we talk about this one in particular)
This Week’s Guest: Melissa Clark
Food writer and cookbook author Melissa Clark is staff reporter for the New York Times Food section, where she writes the popular column “A Good Appetite” and appears in a weekly cooking video series.
Melissa has written thirty-eight cookbooks, including her latest, Dinner in French: My Recipes by Way of France, which was released in March 2020.
Her work has been honored with awards by the James Beard Foundation and IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals), and has been selected for the Best Food Writing series. Melissa is a regular guest on the Today show and Rachael Ray. She has also been a judge on Iron Chef America. She’s been a frequent guest host on the NPR radio show The Splendid Table and is a regular guest on The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Melissa lives there with her husband and daughter. She loves anchovies, radishes, chicken feet, and lox, but not in that order.
Let’s Be Friends
Be sure to join our private listeners’ group on Facebook (our favorite cocktail is WHISKEY — you’ll understand when you try to join). This week, we’ll be sharing our favorite Melissa Clark recipes (#obvs), but also talking about recipes that seem fancy, but can be made easy with clever shortcuts.
You can also find us at @didntijustfeed you on Instagram and on Facebook at large. And if you happen to love us as much as we love you (we really do!), you can find Meghan as @meghan_splawn and Stacie as @staciebillis on Instagram.
Stacie’s New Book!
Did you guys know that you’re buying 53 pounds of chicken per person per year. Y’all REALLY love chicken, and Stacie’s latest cookbook is your new guide to cooking it perfectly.
Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner: 50 Winning Ways To Cook It Up! is a collection of modern, vibrant recipes that solves dinner using America’s favorite main protein.
Organized by method, this colorful collection offers fresh new chicken recipes (like Pineapple Chicken Salad with Green Beans and Toasted Coconut) and quick takes on classic dishes (from Chicken Adobo to an unexpected twist on Chicken Scaloppine) so that you can roast, grill, pressure cook, braise or sheet pan your way to dinner any night of the week.
It’s also chock full of tips on everything from choosing healthy chicken, confusing labels be damned, to breaking it down like the home cook boss you are.
Preorder your copy now at: