NOODLE what?

In sport, “noodling” refers to the act of catching catfish using one’s bare hands or feet. No thanks! Luckily, noodling also means to peruse and investigate. Here, I’m taking the liberty of riffing on its definition to include the improvisational acts of meandering, exploring, and experimenting with a sense of freedom. When I cook and create in the kitchen, I noodle. 

This newsletter is where noodling and my professional culinary experience collide.

For the last 15 years I’ve earned a living by cooking food. As a result, my resume is pretty motley: I’ve taken a few years off my life as a line cook at one of Brooklyn’s most-cherished restaurants. I was an obsessive cheesemonger and celebrated* food columnist. I even tried to get Phone-A-Chef off the ground, a 24/7 professional chef hotline I dreamed up. (DM me if you wanna resurrect the concept.)

But my most profound break as a cook was when I landed a job in the test and television kitchens at Martha Stewart, where I worked for nearly seven years. Every day offered a new dose of insanity learning– one minute rolling dough alongside Martha herself and the next, properly executing recipes from the incredible slew of world-class chefs we had on the show.

Since then, I’ve styled food for cookbooks, catalogs, and commercials; culinary produced many a PBS, reality, and competition food series; and have developed nearly 1,000 recipes for brands, celebs, books, and television. 

*by my parents

So what’s the deal if I subscribe?

Every other Thursday(ish), you’ll be sent a delicious and ridiculously gratifying recipe (the result of my noodling), which will spare you all the trials and tribulations that I may have faced while developing the recipe. In short, I’ll noodle, so you don’t have to.

Each recipe will teach you how to cook the dish, and how to cook it well. This doesn’t sound that revolutionary, but it is, because not all recipes deliver a win. And that’s not your fault!!!!!!!!!!! See, a lot of published recipes limit word count (and exclamation points) and straight-up don’t describe crucial technique, like the importance of a pre-heated skillet, the power of brined proteins, and how much a toasted fennel seed can level up a dish.

Prepare thineself, because my newsletter recipes will note every pertinent detail! If I season with salt 5 times throughout a recipe, I’ll include that. All of the minutiae that a professional cook performs in a recipe to ensure that the food tastes good? ALLLLLOFTHAT will be uncensored. We’ll talk just enough technique to get you geared up, and in turn, you’ll learn how to cook better, smarter, and more confidently. 

Here’s some info about me and the way I cook: 

I eat, and therefore cook, almost everything. I’m equal opportunity when it comes to proteins. I love vegetables, especially green ones, but also pastries, breads and other things made with flour. I use a lot of salt, fat, herbs, and lemons. I believe that putting in a bit more effort in the kitchen is normally worth it, but will figure out a way to do so without dirtying more dishes (or at least I’ll try really hard not to, promise). I keep an eye on budget. I write with a lot of flexibility (and parentheses) in my recipes– use this herb, or that herb; this spice, or that spice. Use fennel, or an onion (though I’ll always plug the fennel). And that’s because, well, there’s much more leeway in cooking than we sometimes realize. And ultimately, I really, REALLY want you to have fun in the kitchen.