How do you get into “the zone” for cooking?

Aprons and masks help me really get into character and keep the creative process rolling. I also enjoy sampling things as I go and licking the spoons.

We love the mask! Tell us more about your apron.

The Dino apron was gifted to me by my aunt and is an essential uniform item. In fact if I’m not wearing it while cooking then I might as well not even bother with the activity and will throw my hands up in frustration.

What’s your favorite tool in the kitchen?

The NINJA Blender. Because it’s a ninja, of course.

What’s your favorite thing to cook?

Hulk smoothies and treats. Well because I just like them and it’s my job. Of course.

What are your favorite ingredients?

Bananas, apples, baby spinach, frozen mango, yogurt, orange juice , cheese sticks, peanut butter and jelly, tomatoes, goldfish.

How do you decide what you’re going to cook?

Recipes are usually directed to me by my mom or I wing it with rainbow colored smoothie ingredients and try to guess which ones will generate corresponding superhero colors. Green spinach creates Hulk smoothies, red strawberries create Iron Man smoothies, etc.

What got you interested in cooking and baking?

Watching my mom and wanting to help out.

Do you prefer cooking or baking?

Both. Because it’s my favorite thing to do. Cooking makes me happy because dinner is coming.

You’re hosting a dinner party — which three people, living or dead, are you inviting?

My big brother, Zachary, and Daddy and Mommy

What's the thing you've cooked/baked/made that you're most proud of? 

I don’t know.

Is there a food you'd like to make but haven't yet - maybe because of tough to find ingredients or because it's intimidating?

I don’t know.

Tell us about your kitchen knives.

Better skip this one. Because I’m a toddler.

Is there a figure in the food world who you really admire? Why? 

Me!

We admire you too, Mr. Hulk. Thanks for sharing your kitchen!

If you want to share yours, send us an email or fill out our submission form. Happy cooking!

We’re coming at you with a weird edition of Cooking Clutter this week. Our kitchen submissions box has run dry (cough cough) and our at home COVID tests are positive (cough cough).

We hope you all stay healthy this winter, but given the time of year, we thought it appropriate to share how we’re making the most of our situation in the kitchen in case you find yourself using some sick days this winter.

Groceries

Behold our wonderful Whole Foods delivery haul, which arrived yesterday afternoon and breathed new life into our kitchen. Friend of the newsletter, Henry, was also kind enough to pick up and deliver our farm share to us on Friday afternoon. Even though we’re happy to report that we’re feeling much better at time of publication, we’re keeping it pretty simple with dinners this upcoming week. Here’s what we’ll be cooking:

Sunday: chili and drop biscuits

Monday: carrot ginger soup and salad (soup recipe pictured below)

Tuesday: pork meatball rice bowls (this is a staple - we make these at least a couple times a month)

Wednesday: leftover chili in spaghetti squash bowls

Thursday: swordfish (it’s been hanging out in the freezer) with broccoli rabe and quinoa

Friday: normally, we pick up our farm share on Fridays and like to see what we can come up with from the weekly haul for dinner! Since we anticipate being back in action, we look forward to continuing that tradition this week.

Chicken Soup

Bon Appetit’s Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup has been a longtime sick staple for us, and this weekend was no exception. After our groceries arrived, we got to work on this simple but flavor-packed soup. If you find yourself under the weather this season, this soup is a must-try.

To make it even simpler, we ordered a rotisserie chicken and subbed that for the chicken thighs. This soup had us feeling so rejuvenated that Joe even used the rotisserie chicken carcass to make a homemade chicken stock (photo evidence below).

That’s all from us this week. As always, thank you for reading, share with your friends, and let us know if you’d like to share your kitchen! Stay healthy and warm.

Hey Cooking Clutter,

Mitch here. I almost started a fire while making some spinach and mushrooms. Thought you might be interested (since the "clutter" actually got "cooked." Haha).

Recipe: Sautéed Mushrooms and Spinach on Pressure-cooked Meat Sauce

There are three parts to this dish. They stand on their own well but are next level when combined into one dish. This recipe was improvised based on guidance from David Grotto's book "The Best Things You Can Eat." Essentially, I was trying to eat more white mushrooms, spinach, carrots, and chicken. These foods are packed with nutrients and the book does a great job hyping them up.

PSA: go for a terry pot holder over a loose towel when working on a gas stove.

While preparing the spinach, I almost started a fire in the kitchen. I had been using a towel to hold the lid over the mushroom and spinach pan. While tending to the pasta (and my beer) I draped the towel into the gas fire. Fortunately I noticed before it got out of hand. In the future I will use a terry pot holder for pan lid management. Thanks Mom for adding this essential tool to my kitchen!

Ingredients*

Sautéed mushrooms and spinach

• White mushrooms, 1 package

• Baby spinach, 4 quarts

• Olive oil, salt, pepper

Pressure cooked chicken + veggies

• Chicken breasts

• 2 lbs carrots chopped in food processor

• 3 bell peppers chopped in food processor

• 4 oz tomato paste

• Olive oil, salt, pepper, ground ginger, turmeric

• Bonus points: add chicken liver (mega nutrient loaded)

Pasta

• Any pasta you like

*All quantities, vegetables, and spices are rough suggestions

Method

These items go well together and can be co-prepared to optimize for chef efficiency and hot-serving.

Instant Pot: Chicken + veggies

1. Prepare veggies. Any veggies will do, I prefer lower-moisture veggies (I only use zucchini when I don't mind getting a soupy result). I like to grind carrots into a paste with the food processor.

2. Sauté. As the veggies are ready, get them into the Instant Pot under the "sauté" setting.

3. Add chicken. Sometimes I sauté the chicken for a bit before switching to pressure cook mode.

4. Pressure cook. Add a bit of water if the veggies have not already yielded enough to build some steam pressure. I usually set the pressure cooker to 35 minutes.

5. Let sit til ready. Prepare the other items during the pressure cook. It's fine if the timer goes off before the other items are ready. Just leave it in the pressure cooker, the pressure will slowly decrease but the food will continue to cook.

6. Open lid and serve. Be sure to vent any remaining steam first. You can eat alone or on top of pasta.

Stove 1: Mushroom and spinach

1. Prepare mushrooms. I'm new to cooking white mushrooms. I like to wash them off and cut or twist off the stems. My father-in-law said some people prefer to just wipe off the mushrooms in order to avoid water-logging them. Also some people like to eat the stems. I like to cut the mushrooms into roughly quarter inch slices.

2. Sauté. Sauté with oil, salt, and pepper for 10 minutes. As needed, add water to deglaze the oil and juices.

3. Add spinach. Add spinach and heat until wilted. Add some water to produce steam and deglaze as needed. Putting the lid on the pan helps expedite the wilt.

4. Let sit til ready. Turn off the stove or set it to low.

5. Serve. This mixes with or tops-off the chicken and veggies well.

Stove 2: Pasta

1. Boil water.

2. Add pasta.

3. Drain.

4. Let sit til ready.

5. Serve.

Thank you Mitch for the recipe, and thank you for reading! If you want to share a recipe, story, or your kitchen with us, send us an email or fill out our submission form. See you next week!

Tell us about your kitchen knives.

I only have a 13" chef's knife and sharpener. The biggest thing the chef at the restaurant I worked at taught me was that all culinary problems can be solved with a 13" chefs knife (except slicing bread).

What’s your favorite grocery store?

Wegmans.

Editor’s note: Nick once drove us to Wegmans to show off their comprehensive selection and competitive prices. While there, we encountered Boston Celtics legend Daniel Theis in the cereal aisle. Wegmans is a favorite of ours now too.

Do you have any specific culinary hobbies?

My culinary hobby is espresso. I brew it with a single-boiler Rancilio Silvia M espresso machine and a powder blue Eureka Mignon Silenzio grinder. I also keep a bunch of cleaning supplies, a spare portafilter, and a handheld vacuum for cleaning up grinds.

Do you drink espresso while you cook?

Sometimes, but I prefer make-it-yourself zero sugar red Kool-aid. That's 100% true.

Does your family have any recipes that have been passed down? 

Yes. I can make a Trieber-exclusive kugel (sweet and savory noodle pudding). I can’t share the recipe here.

Fair enough. That’s all for today, we hope you enjoyed Nick’s kitchen. Care to share yours? Send us an email or fill out our submission form. Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving!

Favorite cookbook?

Lizzy: We actually don’t use cookbooks to plan our meals — all our recipes either come from family or from Pinterest!

Does your family have any recipes that have been passed down? 

Lizzy: Granny Helen’s chocolate chip cookies and Dan’s mum (GG) has her garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes, yum!

Favorite cooking tool in your kitchen?

Dan: My cast iron skillet!

Lizzy: I don’t have one but Dan’s is definitely his cast iron skillet, it’s up there with his loved ones!

What’s a kitchen tip, hack, or piece of advice that you swear by?

Dan: Let your meat rest. If you do bake and break tollhouse only cook for 9 minutes.

That’s all for today! Want to be featured? Send us an email or fill out our submission form. We’d love to see your cooking clutter.

Thanks for reading and Happy Cooking!

Cooking or baking?

Main: Cooking! I find cooking a lot more intuitive than baking. I think that I have a good feel for seasoning food and knowing what flavors will go together.

Mei Li: I definitely prefer baking. I like following recipes and I like how precise you need to be to accomplish the more difficult bakes. Intuitive is a good way to put it. I don’t find cooking intuitive, the way I do with baking.  I don’t have the knack for throwing together excellent meals and I always forget the seasoning when I cook. Plus I’ve watched enough Great British Bake Off to have a general feel for how most baking is done.

Favorite cooking tool?

Mei Li: I love the microwave. I got it second hand from Facebook Marketplace. It has fun stop and start buttons and also a dial to select the cook time. I am a pretty lazy cook and I love that I can just cook a whole (chopped) zucchini with a sprinkle of water in 2-3 minutes flat. Top it with some tomato sauce and bam! Lazy zoodles.

Main: I love my espresso machine (and my entire coffee cart). I have been obsessed with making coffee at home for years now but only recently entered the world of espresso. The rabbit hole goes pretty deep because I now have specialized accessories to distribute the coffee grounds before tamping into the portafilter. I even have started tinkering with my water chemistry (using Third Wave Water)  to try and get a better flavor in the cup. My machine is perfectly capable of making cafe quality espresso drinks and I almost never go out to coffee shops anymore. 

Go-to source for new recipes?

Mei Li: I usually turn to Pinterest. If I know what I want to make, I’ll check Pinterest to pick the best looking version of the recipe. I also like to pin things to try some time in the future because they look so good. I only try out about 1% of everything I pin for future reference, but it’s all about the inspiration.

Main: YouTube. There is a ton of amazing food content on YouTube. Some channels I like: Binging with Babish, James Hoffmann, Adam Ragusea.

Staple ingredients to always keep on hand?

Mei Li: Cinnamon, Steel Cut Oats, Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chips, Garlic Powder. The first four can go together to make a killer last minute meal/snack/dessert. The GP is good for everything else.

Main: Eggs, onions, cheese, hot sauce. These are all the ingredients for my favorite way to make eggs. I prefer to make a cheese and onion omelette but if I have some nice bread on hand, I will make a sandwich instead to mix things up.

Favorite grocery store?

Main: MARKET BASKET. I love MB, they have amazing quality products for the lowest prices. I know this sounds like an ad but it's not, I just love Market Basket and not having access to one is the worst part of living outside Massachusetts.

Favorite cookbook from your collection?

Mei Li: 100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen by Sarah Kieffer is a top tier cookie book in my opinion. All of the recipes I’ve made so far have been winners and the instructions are really clear. I tend to use Pinterest to find new recipes, but now if I need a cookie I turn to this book.

That’s all for today! Want to be featured? Send us an email or fill out our submission form. We’d love to see your cooking clutter.

Happy Cooking!

I love my kitchen! It's not perfect, but I have developed a good relationship with all my “co-workers.” The Breville coffee maker greets me everyday with a grinding chatter that turns into a soothing drip and ends with a happy beep calling my attention.

The sometimes creaky hum of my first and only refrigerator gently reminds me of the many years it has been keeping its cool, and a glance at the door covered in family photos brings history to life.

The chopping spinning symphony of my original Cuisinart food processor often competes with the jolly thump of my long time friend, the Zojirushi bread maker, but they both respect the patient breeze of the Capital convection oven as it efficiently coaxes the ingredients to develop and transform.

Not to be outdone, my wonderfully deep Elkay sink welcomes the plunge of the many parts involved in creating culinary delights and has ample room to allow them to dry out of sight.

I love the tools and gadgets that help me to “create” in my kitchen. Many have their own stories, having been passed down from my mother's kitchen, presented as gifts over the years, bought at friends’ home parties or simply “needed” for the menu.

Their presence doesn't crowd me but brings me the company of family members and occasions while I prepare new memories.

In recent years I've started to keep a journal of my gastronomic successes - I started by simply collecting the favorite recipes that my mom created then added my family's favorites. This has resulted in two “self published” cookbooks to date, with another currently in the works.

I love to cook, eat and share! It's an adventure to plan and prepare menus, meals, and gatherings. The memories created are priceless! I love my family and friends and my kitchen helps me show it.

I love comfort food - muffins, home baked bread, warm cookies, slow cooked stews, savory and sweet pies. These are “meant to be shared” type foods. Recipes can be simply doubled without much effort and easily distributed at creation or plucked from the freezer to enjoy with company or family.

Thank you for reading Cooking Clutter. We’re so excited to be sharing our 5th kitchen this week!

A friendly reminder that we want to share your kitchen (yes, yours!). Send us an email (cookingclutternewsletter@gmail.com) to be featured, or submit via our Google Form.

As always, Happy Cooking!

Now that we’re all on board, let’s make some chili.

Claudia here, and I’m very proud to share that this chili recipe is my very own. On a Friday afternoon in early fall, I stared down the contents of our fridge and pantry looking for dinner inspiration to hit, and realized that we had all the makings of chili. In the first edition of the newsletter, I waxed about my love for an improvisable, customizable cold weather recipe. I fired up google.com, skimmed a few chili recipes, and tried my hand at making something that I could call my own. This is that - I hope you like following along and that you try your hand at it too, making it your very own however you see fit.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef

• 2 fresh tomatoes

• 2 hot peppers (adjust according to your spice preferences)

• 2 bell peppers

• 2 shallots

• Mushrooms (I used shiitake)

• A few cloves garlic

• 1 can San Marzano tomatoes

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 can red kidney beans

• 2 servings of beef broth base or beef bouillon cubes

• Maple syrup

• Worcestershire

• 1 cup beer of your choice (I used an IPA from Treehouse Brewing Company)

• Dry spices:

  • Smoked paprika

  • Cumin

  • Cayenne

  • Chili powder

  • Oregano

  • 2 bay leaves

Step 1: Chopping and Prep

I always find it helpful when recipes share how to organize your prepped ingredients for cooking, so here it goes: shallots with garlic, mushrooms on their own, hot pepper on their own, and fresh tomatoes with bell peppers.

Here’s how to slice and dice each component:

• Finely dice your shallots and thinly slice your garlic.

• Chop up your mushrooms. If using shiitake, remove stems and then slice tops into 1/4” slices.

• Finely dice your hot peppers.

• Chop up your bell peppers and fresh tomatoes into nice little chunks. You want some texture, so don’t go too small on the bell peppers. At the same time, you probably don’t want huge chunks. Do what feels right.

Step 2: Get Cooking

In a large, sturdy pot or dutch oven, heat up a couple glugs (a very technical term) of olive oil over medium or medium-high. Once shimmering, add your shallots and garlic and some generous doses of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until softened and you see some light golden color developing on the shallots.

Once you hit those cues with your shallots and garlic, add in your mushrooms. You want to cook these until the water has released and you see some browning.

Once your mushrooms are looking good, add your ground beef. Use your cooking utensil to chop it up into bits as it cooks - I like a wooden spatula for this. Keep going until beef is mostly browned, then add in your hot peppers and dry seasonings. I would start with a 1/2 teaspoon of each dry seasoning and taste for spice once the beef is cooked enough to be safe for tasting. How much of each seasoning you want to use depends on your personal preference and on the spice level of your hot peppers.

Next add a few dashes of Worcestershire, about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, your 2 servings of beef base or bouillon, and a glug (there it is again) of maple syrup. Stir everything up really well to distribute those flavors, and keep going with the beef until nice and browned.

Once your beef is nice and browned, add your tomatoes and bell peppers. Let those cook until peppers are softened and your tomatoes have begun to break down a bit.

Once you have some soft peppers and broken down tomatoes, add 1 cup of beer and scrape up any stuck on bits remaining on the bottom of the pot. Your peppers and tomatoes probably already did a lot of deglazing for you, but stuck on bits = flavor and deglazing now = easier cleanup later, so why not be thorough with it? Let the beer cook off until the liquid is about half reduced. The beauty of this step is if you use a 16 oz beer, you still have half of it as a treat for the chef.

Once you’ve reduced the beer, go ahead and add everything else. Add your canned tomatoes, using your cooking utensil to break them up. Then rinse your kidney beans and add those. Add 1/2 cup of water. Top with a couple bay leaves. Stir it all up well.

Step 3: Walk Away

Bring everything up to a boil, then reduce heat to low-ish / medium-ish, cover, and walk away. You can check in and give things a stir every once in a while, but for the most part you can do whatever you want with the next 2 hours.

Optional Step: Cornbread and Honey Butter

You have 2 hours and a wide open oven. And cornbread is really great with chili. And honey butter is really great with cornbread. You see where I’m going with this.

You can use any cornbread recipe you like! I like to add the zest of an orange, which is my secret cornbread hack.

To make honey butter, let some butter soften - a heatproof bowl placed in the back corner of the stove while your chili simmers and cornbread cooks is a great way to get soft butter. Once soft, add a tablespoon or 2 of honey and mash together with a fork to combine. Top with some flaky salt and spread on your warm cornbread.

Step 4: Garnish and Enjoy

After 2 hours is up, your chili is going to have a deeper color (and flavor), you’ll see some reduction in liquid when you give it a stir, and your beef will be super tender.

One of the best parts of a bowl of chili is, in my opinion, the garnishes. I went with cilantro, plain yogurt, and some pickled red onions. You could go with cheese, sour cream, broken up tortilla chips - all would be delicious.

Once you have your garnishes straightened out, all that’s left to do is enjoy!

Thanks for making chili with me. Happy Cooking!

Fun update: we’re on TikTok! Check out our first video here, and stay tuned for more to come.

Who are you 3 dream dinner party guests? What would you serve them?

The person I would most like to invite to dinner is Stephen King. He's welcome to bring his spouse, Tabitha, an author in her own right, and his son, Owen, who also writes. He comes across as a down-to-earth person with a fantastic sense of humor, and he would definitely have an amazing tale or two to share during the meal. While I'd ask what they wanted or liked to eat to make the meal pleasant for them, my favorite thing to cook and eat is soup! Making a boule from scratch, a pie for dessert, and some kind of soup is ideal to me. Heck, why not say the meal is in October, one of the best months for weather, especially for people who like fresh-baked bread, soup, and pies. It's the perfect month to cook these things! We could take a stroll through the cemetery near our house as an after dinner walk, fitting for our company!

Tell us about your favorite corner of your kitchen.

The cutting board on the left was made for us by our friend as an anniversary gift. He enjoys woodworking and has been playing around with different types of wood to create artistic cutting boards. It is almost too pretty to use, yet we do use it! The bread bowl has a family story. While this is a newer version, the company that made this is no longer in existence. There is a family bread bowl (any extra large mixing bowl is called a "bread bowl" for whatever reason regardless of it being used for all kinds of things) that was passed from my great, great grandmother to my great grandmother, to my grandmother to my mother, and then to me. The bowl here was given to us as a wedding gift by my uncle and aunt. (Don't tell anyone else who gave us things, yet this is my favorite gift of all as it holds such meaning within our family.)

Tell us about your aprons.

My apron collection hangs on our pantry door and both Chris and I wear them to cook and clean up. I made one of the aprons myself using a pattern I created. Another my mother made and we bought two others. One is from King Arthur Flour Company and another has ducks on it (that one is my favorite)! I absolutely LOVE aprons. Sometimes, after cooking or cleaning, I wear one longer than necessary just because I like the soft, cotton fabric and the design of the material.

Tell us about your favorite kitchen tool.

So, this is going to sound like an advertisement for the Pampered Chef RockCrok and I wish I got some kind of compensation from what I have to say about it! This is a crockpot in its function as shown sitting in the electric base. What is AMAZING about this product is that it is ceramic that is safe for use on the stove top as well as in the oven and refrigerator! I can move from baking a whole chicken in it in the oven to using the base to make stock from the carcass and to make soup, to storing the leftover soup in the fridge, to warming it up again on the stovetop. Now you want one, too, right? I really should get a commission!

What’s the culinary creation you’re most proud of?

Over the years, I took pride in making birthday cakes that are unique and special to my son and daughter. A couple come to mind: a dinosaur cake for my son complete with blue cake that represented the water under the earth's crust and a 3D volcano on the sheetcake foundation that used candles grouped together to smoke and spark and my daughter's thirteenth birthday cake that was a "doll cake" with a twist - one side was Glinda the Good With with pink frosting for her dress and blond hair with a crown and the other was Elphaba (aka The Wicked Witch of the West) complete with green skin I hand-colored, flying monkeys at her feet, and a black frosting dress.

What’s a culinary challenge you’d like to tackle but haven’t yet?

I have yet to make macarons and would love to figure them out and get good at them. What stops me is the time involved. To do this right, so that they come out perfectly every try, you need to let egg whites age, and need to know how to balance liquid and dry flavorings for the filling and shells. I don't believe a class would even help because I am not looking to make "standard" macarons, rather those that experiment with flavor combinations, so it will likely be a lot of trial and error.

Have you taken any cooking or baking classes?

I've taken a couple of one off cooking classes, and a major life goal was going to the sourdough intensive at King Arthur Flour Company in Vermont. (Emphasis on the word "intensive!) My spouse and I went together and we had a great time! We learned so much about sourdough and have a lot of options for using left over starter for various sourdough-based recipes. It was a fast-paced learning environment and was almost information overload in some ways. We weren't even sure what to expect, and we definitely got our money's worth of information! The King Arthur store alone was amazing to spend time in deciding what supplies would be important for our forays into home sourdough experiments.

Does your family have any recipes that have been passed down through the years?

There is a meatball recipe that has been adapted by each generation. It is not a recipe with instructions, rather, you learn to make the meatballs by watching and then engaging the sense of touch to get the right consistency. I know the ingredient options I use and then the "amounts" are determined as I go along. I taught this to my daughter and she has her own take on it and it works!

We need kitchens to feature! Share yours? You can fill out our Google Form or submit some photos and answers by email. We’d be so grateful and so happy to share what you have cooking.

Email

Submission Form

Favorite corner of the kitchen?

Our kitchen is compact and definitely cluttered, especially after the adding the bottles and baby gear. One thing that I really like about it is the window that opens to the living room. The setup works great with one person in the kitchen. You can reach everything without moving and still be part of a conversation.

Go-to source for new recipes?

I prefer free-styling in the kitchen and rarely look too closely at recipes. If I'm baking from scratch or working with an unfamiliar ingredient I'll check the first few google results for "how to" do a specific thing. This week I wanted to see how long to pressure cook salmon. Google said 4 minutes but I did 20 (because I wanted to to blast the zucchini). Along the way, I confirmed that salmon skin was good to eat.

A cooking endeavor you're proud of?

It's fun to try and take a concept to the next level when you are feeling inspired and can make time to execute. One time, as a joke during a school project where I helped make a small farm egg washing machine, I made 2 gross (2x144) deviled eggs. It took a long time but I still chuckle about it. Another time, I made the most extreme carrot cake recipe I could find for my wife's birthday (it involved pineapple). As an experimental "frosting" on top of the cream cheese frosting, I wrapped it with candied carrot strips.

Favorite grocery store?

Trader Joes! They seem to have everything I need and a lot of things I didn't know I needed. It's always sort of relaxing to be there and I like tracking their undulating themes.

A food figure you admire?

My mom is my culinary idol. She has great skill, ambition, and productivity in converting raw ingredients, recipes, themes, and constraints into happy tasty memories.

Favorite tool in your kitchen?

Lately I have been appreciating the Instant Pot pressure cooker. The pressure cooker is the shortest path to a non-trivial meal with easy clean up.

We have some very large bowls that we thought were "normal" sized cereal bowls when we saw them online. We probably would not have put them on our wedding registry if we looked beyond the aspect ratio to the scale. They have become cherished challenge items that push us to imagine new bowl-based recipes.

The most important tool in our kitchen is the AeroPress - a single-serve plunger-style coffee maker from the creator of the Aerobie frisbee. We use it so much that we have now individually replaced each of the components through overuse.

Going to a dinner party and the host asks you to bring something - what are you bringing?

Cornbread! I love cornbread and feel like it should be more widely celebrated and consumed. My mom has a delicious buttermilk cornbread recipe in our family cookbook. It is by far the most referenced page in my print of the book. It is fun to make because, even though it's messy, there is no downtime during preparation and the mixing bowl residue is an immediate reward while waiting for the bake.

Do you listen to anything while you cook?

I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks while cooking. Lately I've been listening to the Lex Fridman Podcast, Jocko Podcast, and All-in Pod. I get audiobooks through the library app and most recently listened to Thus Spake Zarathustra. If I find a new podcast or book I like my cooking output shoots way up.

You might have noticed we took last week off. This was partly due to us being on our honeymoon and therefore being very busy eating our way through Portland, ME. But, also, we need kitchens to feature! Share yours? You can fill out our Google Form or submit some photos and answers by email - whichever works. We’d be so grateful and so happy to share what you have cooking.

Email

Submission Form

Cooking or baking?

I prefer cooking! While I love baked goods, I enjoy a greater sense of freedom and in the moment improvisation while cooking. I feel more involved in the process and I get more excited about the different things I can cook.

Who, what, or how did you get into cooking?

My partner, Rena, and Matty Matheson’s YouTube videos where he is cooking at his home got me much more into cooking. Rena expanded my tastes greatly and she has such excitement and appreciation for food. That got me excited about cooking with her and for her. She frequently daydreams about fishes, grilled meats, rice, soup, clams, oysters, and etcetera; and will remark about her desperation for these things at unusual times. Matty Matheson makes cooking seem so fun, and his sense of humor about cooking and eating resonated with me. He made me realize how fun cooking really can be, and it’s best to make something you really want to eat.

Favorite cookbook in the collection?

My partner and I have numerous cookbooks, more than are on our kitchen shelf. I am a big fan of Fish by Mat Follas. It is a fairly straightforward recipe book but it has fantastic pictures that make me extremely hungry. Follas shares personal anecdotes on each recipe and suggestions for the process of cooking and plating, as well as a short but poignant section that highlights his appreciation for fish as animals and sustainability environmentally and economically. His rustic sensibility and hint at context for recipes always gets me excited and running out the door to see whats left at my favorite fish market. I use most of our cookbooks that way, I love the one’s with stories and quality photographs. It’s less about the specific recipe for me and more just finding inspiration!

Staple ingredients you always keep on hand?

Sesame oil, mirin, ponzu, pickled vegetables, gochujang, rice vinegar, and a giant bag of rice! You really can’t go wrong with just these ingredients when you are feeling lazy and tired after work, or staring at an empty fridge.

That concludes our tour of Henry’s kitchen. We hope you enjoyed it, and maybe it inspired you to share yours? We would love to see what you have cooking.

Submit Your Kitchen

Hey! We’re Claudia and Joe. We live in New England with our beloved dog, Pumpkin. We love to cook (and eat!) together. We’re newly married, and food has been a huge part of our relationship. We believe people can find common ground through the shared experience of preparing and enjoying delicious food.

We started Cooking Clutter with the goal of fostering feelings of connection and culinary inspiration. The idea here isn’t to show off the most aesthetic kitchens or fanciest tools - we think there’s more than enough FOMO-inducing content out there. We want to see the real kitchens of real people who love food.

If that’s you, share your kitchen with us! Send us an email and we’ll get you set up with our submission form.

Email

Want to follow along? Subscribe to get a new kitchen sent to your inbox every Sunday morning.

Subscribe now

Think what we’re doing is cool? Share Cooking Clutter with your friends.

Share Cooking Clutter

Without further ado, let’s get into the newsletter.

Welcome to our kitchen!

Cooking or baking?

Claudia: Both! A few years ago I would have said cooking, because I thought I lacked the skill and precision needed to bake. It turns out that's not true, and I’ve actually had a lot of fun learning and tackling some challenging stuff. I even had a pretty successful first venture into croissants (for which I largely credit Claire Saffitz and her wonderful tutorial). I'm so happy fall is here so I can get back to it (New England summer humidity does not lend itself well to complex baking projects).

Joe: I prefer to cook. Baking can be great when you make a day of it and earn the satisfaction of a well-executed baking project, but there's nothing like saying "I'm hungry" and throwing together a delicious meal on demand. Whether it be throwing some meats and veggies on the grill, whipping up a pantry pasta, or mixing and matching leftovers for a perfect fried rice, I love seeing how quickly I can turn random ingredients into a cohesive and delicious dish.

Favorite thing to cook? Why?

Claudia: I love a long and slow cold weather recipe, like a beef stew or braise. I like the deep, rich flavors this type of recipe creates in the final product, and I love the opportunity to slow down and just focus on cooking and developing flavors. Once I’m in the simmer stage, I like to curl up with a book while the whole house smells like heaven. With a beef stew I especially love how forgiving and customizable it is. We do a farm share and in the colder months we get so many different root veggies, and they can all just be chopped up and thrown in. You can use whatever red wine or beer you have on hand. Throw in any herbs you have. It's fun to play around and just have cooking be your activity for the day.

Joe: I love making tomato sauce. Even when making a simple sauce, there are lots of variables to consider; heat, acidity, texture, sweetness, and so on. Lots of room to make it your own and really hard to mess up.

Details on kitchen knives?

Joe: Over the last several years, Claudia and I have accumulated a wonderful three-piece set of Lamson knives. My mom got me their 6" chef's knife for Christmas shortly after I graduated college, then their 7" santoku knife after Claudia and I moved into our own place. This year, Claudia ordered us their paring knife as a stocking stuffer but was too delighted by it to keep the secret till Christmas, so it's up on our knife rack right now. The knives are excellent -- they feel great in your hand, hold their sharpness, and also just look really cool.The fact that Lamson has been based in Massachusetts for nearly 200 years and has recently partnered with Brad Leone on a series of cleavers is icing on the cake.

Go to source for new recipes?

Claudia: For baking, I love Sally's Baking Recipes. I've baked several of Sally’s recipes and she’s never let me down! Her macaron guide taught me how to make macarons. For cooking, I love RecipeTin Eats. Same goes for this site - every recipe I've made has been great. For me, nothing ruins a cooking or baking session like a badly written recipe, so it's nice to have reliable sources for quality recipes.

Joe: YouTube! Their algorithm knows my literal taste pretty well by now so my recommendations are always on point. My favorite food YouTuber today has to be J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. His videos are unique in that he straps a camera to his head and shows you every step involved in cooking whatever he's cooking, which shows you not only exactly what you're looking for at each stage of the recipe but also a good idea of how long everything will take (assuming that you are a world-class chef).

Favorite cookbook in the collection?

Claudia: This is a tough one, but I'm going with Homegrown by Matt Jennings. It really emphasizes seasonal cooking and has a lot of classic New England recipes. The bolognese is to die for - I've made it at least a dozen times.

Joe: Mom's Memorable Recipes, editions one and two -- the spiral bound cookbooks in the photo above. I helped my mom make copies of her recipes and get these books bound at Kinkos when I was the only child left in my parents' otherwise empty nest. The first Christmas she gave these out to my siblings, I didn't even get my own copy. I've grown up a lot since then and have really loved working through the recipes with Claudia. It's special to be able to remember something I used to eat growing up, find it in one of the books, try to parse my mom's handwriting, and then recreate it perfectly at home.

Favorite cooking tool?

Claudia: It's going to have to be our Staub dutch oven. I use it multiple times per week. It really does everything and performs so well. I'll even use it for stuff like a fried rice that normally calls for a skillet or frying pan because I love the security of the high walls and relatively nonstick surface. It's a great vessel for the aforementioned Matt Jennings bolognese, makes a great beef stew, and is awesome for baking bread. This is definitely an investment piece, but we got it on sale and I hope that it lasts the rest of our lives.

Kitchen hack or tip?

Joe: Use a scale every now and then. After you've used one for a while, you develop the super power of being able to eyeball 170 grams of Greek yogurt so you can always get four breakfasts out of a single tub.

Claudia: Don’t be afraid to deviate from a recipe when you need to. Every kitchen is different, and you know yours best. Look at what’s in front of you and go by visual cues rather than following the exact time increments laid out in your recipe. A recipe is, at the end of the day, a guide. If your pie crust has been chilling for an hour but isn’t quite firm enough, give it another few minutes. If you’re supposed to sauté onions for 5 minutes until golden brown but you’re on minute 7 and barely see any browning, keep going until you hit that visual cue. Adjust your heat as needed. Over time and with practice, I’m learning what to look for and to trust my instincts. It’s always a work in progress, and mistakes help us learn.