Interview with Chef Stephanie Izard: The First Pinterest Cookbook

Chef Stephanie Izard

Bravo’s Top Chef Winner, Chef Stephanie Izard is helping to create the first-ever Pinterest cookbook, and you can help inspire which recipes will go into that cookbook.  

Chef Izard will create five scrumptious recipes from the 20 most-liked combinations featured on the “Lay’s Wavy Recipe Inspirations” Pinterest page. The cookbook will include 40 recipes determined by fans and inspired by different flavors of Lay’s Wavy potato chips. First 20 recipes available for download this May.  

Chef and partner of two award-winning Chicago restaurants Girl & the Goat and Little Goat, Stephanie Izard will be putting her unique twist on an array of everyday dishes for the Pinterest cookbook. 

Below is the interview on video, and also included is a transcript of the more relevant parts in the conversation.  

CN: You graduated with a degree in sociology before entering the culinary program at Le Cordon Bleu...I was wondering how you reached that decision to go into culinary school. Did you go right away or did you take some time of soul searching after you graduated? 

Chef: I actually ended up going just after college. I really enjoyed studying sociology, and I just had a lot of fun in college. I went to University of Michigan, so [there were] lots of football games and such. But what I really wanted to do, and I could really feel that I wanted to get into restaurant industry, so right after graduation, I left the cold of Michigan and I went down into Arizona where I went to Le Cordon Bleu where I went to culinary school. As soon as I got into school, I just felt like I had found something I was in love with. But I'm glad I went to college first and got all those experiences.  

CN: Since you started working after you won Top Chef, what are some of the craziest requests that you have received from guests, while working at the Girl & the Goat and the Little Goat?  

Chef: Crazy requests...I've had a couple of people ask me to propose for them, or alongside them, like bring a ring to them while they're proposing and that makes me so nervous. It's a wedding ring! I don't want to drop it. I'm happy to come over and say, "Congratulations!" and be part in that way, and not carrying the ring, that just makes me too nervous. [Laughs.]  

CN: [Laughs.] That's really special though, you get to take place in that important moment in their lives. What are some of your favorite parts of working as a chef? 

Chef: The different opportunities that I get, that I get to travel for events. For food and wine, I get to go to Aspen, and in Miami I get to hang out with other chefs, meet with them and get inspiration and such. And doing fun and different projects, partnering up with different folks for creating different recipes and things like that. Lots of things that just keep me on my toes all the time.  

CN: Cool. Traveling with different projects is really exciting.  

Chef: Yeah, it's great when I'm home, and restaurants, and running those, but getting to leave every once in a while and seeing what else is going on in the country is really important, and it's a lot of fun. 

CN: Absolutely. So those are the best parts about working as a chef. How about the most frustrating parts? 

Chef: Working as a chef, the hours are a bit crazy, so finding that balance in life between working 12-15 hours a day and plus I'm eating all day, and time for my family and gym is always a challenge. When you find the career you really want to follow, you have to really love it to get into it.  

CN: It's a commitment. 

Chef: Exactly. 

CN: That's interesting that you mention that you're eating all day because you have to taste all day. 

Chef: Yeah. It isn't a bad thing, tasting everything I make. But I definitely have to balance it with going for a walk in the morning, or things like that.  

CN: That's true. Your cookbook, The Girl in the Kitchen, came out in 2011. What was your favorite part in the process of putting together that cookbook? 

Chef: For that cookbook, it was the fun of actually getting into the kitchen and creating the recipes. I had my co-author sit there while I was making the recipes and write down notes so that we could make sure every little step would translate into the book, and give tips to home cooks to make it a little simpler in the home kitchen.  

CN: Nice. Where do you get the creative inspiration for your recipes? 

Chef: I get creative inspiration from all over. Some of it's through traveling, which I mentioned that I get out there to travel a little bit. When I don't have time, I go through other cookbooks to flip through and going to the farmer's market, which I'm sure you have some amazing ones in San Diego, and looking online like on Pinterest, where there are so many recipes and so many food inspiration photos, where people can get inspiration for cooking at home too.  

CN: Absolutely, oh, god, Pinterest. So many...I dunno. The place is full of food porn, full of recipes. Can you tell us about your exciting new project to create the first ever Pinterest cookbook? 

Chef: I'm working with Lays Wavy to create the first ever Pinterest cookbook, so the best part of it is that fans get to participate and help me get inspiration for the recipes. So they just go to pinterest.com/layswavy. There are pictures from different dishes, from deviled eggs to doughnuts, to sushi--all partnered up with a different flavor of Lays Wavy, from Hickory BBQ to ranch to cheddar. Some of them might seem a little out there, a little obscure, and I think those are the best ones to pin. Fans get to pin their favorite combinations, and I'm going to take those as inspiration for recipes for the cookbook. So pick the crazy ones, give me a challenge, I think it will be so much fun. 

CN: Wow, that is really new. 

Chef: It's fun that the fans get to participate, whether they're going to pick the ones that look delicious, or the ones that look a little bit too crazy. 

CN: What's your favorite flavor of Lays chips? 

Chef: I'm a cheddar person all the way. I thought that I loved ranch, and I love ranch in almost everything, but there's something about the tanginess of the cheddar chips, and I chose them to make my first recipe in the book. I actually have in front of me a bowl of the crumbled topping that I made, and it's got a little bit of oats, a little bit of sweetness, so Chedder Lays Wavy baked right inside, so super crunch and a little sweet, a little savory, and it's good on just about anything, from pancakes to ice cream, to yogurt. 

CN: Ice cream and chips. Now that's creativity right there. I saw that recipe, I think I might actually try it because I love toppings in my ice cream.  

Chef: Yeah, it's really tasty. I think the little extra crunch makes all the difference.  

CN: I personally like the BBQ flavor of the Lays. And also the cheddar. I think it's hard to find a cheddar chip that I don't like.  

Chef: I agree. I think they have great BBQ ones because you can just slip them into your turkey sandwich and it tastes like you're eating bacon.  

CN: Thank you! And when will the cookbook be available? 

Chef: It's going to be available--the first 20 recipes in May, and then another 20 in the fall. So you can taste things from both seasons, spring and fall.  

***

This article and interview is also posted on College News Magazine.

My Favorite Cookbook - The One That I Will Live and Dine By

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I've been using this book for over three years, but hadn't felt I was ready to discuss its merits on an adequate level. After all, how can I properly review a book without having attempted several of its recipes?

Let me say this: this cookbook was what inspired me to start cooking.

Before I encountered the colorful and simple cover of The Frugal Foodie while working at a used bookstore, I had already been learning to bake cookies and cupcakes. However, I was an extremely inexperienced cook. I didn't know how to chop or prepare a lot of vegetables, and I followed recipes to the letter, which was probably why baking seemed a lot less intimidating to begin with.

The layout of the book was what made it so accessible and attractive to a cooking novice (or dunce) like me. There are tables on substitution ingredients, mix-and-match additives to a salad, etc. I love going back and referring to them.

However, what elevates this book beyond a simple collection of recipes is the philosophy that a person with a budget can create and dine on gourmet meals by using ingredients wisely and creatively. The philosophy in this book promotes a sustainable-but-luxurious gourmet lifestyle. It even romanticizes the act of cooking at home as opposed to out and unloading a lot of cash for a pre-made culinary adventure. I don't mind the romanticization of cooking at home. In fact, I am eager to embrace and adopt this ideal.

The language is beautiful, and the anecdotes and tips for frugal living greatly enhance The Frugal Foodie's re-read value. I've read it over and over again, not just as a reference for cooking, but for entertainment. 

In the introduction, Lynette Shirk stated, 

"Being frugal is about getting the most value from your food. It doesn't mean using absolutely the least expensive ingredients. You could probably pare your food budget down to pennies if you lived on potatoes and ramen noodles--but would you call that living? Making smart choices are how, when, and where you spend your money will fill your pantry and menus with delicious options. Splurge on a little balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil for salad dressings, and a few shallots and humble ingredients will come alive with flavor." 

As with most recipe books, there are amazing recipes and some that don't quite turn out as expected. I will share some pictures of my renditions of some of my favorite recipes in this cookbook. I improvise now, but keep in mind that these recipes worked well for me when I followed them faithfully as a cooking novice in 2011. 

"Bowled-Over Chili"

I used ground turkey instead of ground pork because that was what I had on hand, and it still turned out quite well. 

Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry, based on "Teriyaki Chicken "Skewers"

I took the leftovers from the "Teriyaki Chicken Skewers" and added some broccoli, mushroom, and shredded carrot to create a stir fry, and then served it with steamed rice.

"Pie: Mushroom and Onion"

This was the pie before I baked it. Unfortunately, I have misplaced the photo of the finished pie. The concept of a mushroom pie was strange to me at first, but it was delicious! I love the idea of using mashed potatoes as a savory pie crust. It's also vegetarian, which saves money on meat.

Other Recipe Favorites:

• "Dinner 1: Chicken Curry." This recipe has made it into my regular meal rotation, and is friendly to improvisations. Instead of water, I recommend using coconut milk for a richer and creamier sauce. 
• "Hard-Boiled Curry in a Hurry." Because I was rather impatient the day I attempted this, the eggs were mushy instead of choppable, but it was still incredibly yummy. This recipe uses eggs instead of chicken, but since it uses 12 eggs and my husband loves to eat fried eggs, I reserve the eggs for him and make the chicken curry instead.
• "Classic Pizza Dough." This beats any pizza crust mix that I've ever used (most which result in a flat, awfully-textured crust). While I used jars and cans of pasta sauce as the typical fillings instead of the ones suggested by the book, this pizza dough was great because the crust would inflate tremendously and the texture would be chewy and soft. 

Recipes That Didn't Work Out For Me: (Granted, it was mostly my fault as a cooking novice. I will explain in the following examples.)

• "Three-Day Sandwich." This was the first recipe I ever attempted, and in my great ambition to have my siblings and I feast "like kings from this majestic sandwich," I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients, many which I was unaccustomed to using. However, my biggest mistake as a cooking novice, probably in the history of humankind, was not knowing the difference between a "head" of garlic and a "clove" of garlic.
  
  The recipe asked for a clove, and I figured it must mean the entire head, so I peeled each clove in the head and threw them all into the blender.
  
  For the tapenade, I couldn't find any anchovy fillets so I figured sardines would do. To this day I still do not know what a tapenade is.
  
  ...It did not go well. But my mom loves garlic, so she enjoyed the sandwich a lot more than my siblings and I did.
  
• "Lentil Burgers." Another vegetarian recipe like the mushroom pie, but ultimately I found it lacking in flavor despite adding the salt and pepper to taste. I tried adding chicken boullion, but that just gave it a really weird flavor. 

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Here is the table of contents:

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Bankable Breakfasts
  Morning Fix, Shell Game, Commuter Sammies, Cozy Oats
  3-in-1 Eye-Opener Mix
  Cents-able solutions: Cost-Cutting Cleanup Concoctions
  Cents-able Solutions: Meal Planning 101
• Chapter 2: Brunches--When Your Wallet Doesn't Have Bunches!
  Craveable Casseroles, Naked Quiches, Waffle Bites
  Cents-able Solutions: Be a Hipper Clipper
• Chapter 3: Midday Money Matters: Lunch for Less
  Brown-Baggin' It, Bento Box, Down-Home American Diner
  Ladies Lunchin'
  Cents-able Solutions: Food Storage and Safety
• Chapter 4: Snacks on a Shoestring
  Flashback Candy, Dirt-Cheap Self-Filling Cupcakes, A Way with Wings
  Cents-able Solutions: Grow Your Own
• Chapter 5: Dinners on a Dime
  The Three P's: Pizza, Pasta, and Potatoes, Fowl Play, Retro Date-Night
  Restaurant Dinners
  Cents-able Solutions: Savvy Substitutions
• Chapter 6: Pulled-Purse-Strings Parties
  Pasta Roll Play, Get Punchy, Stone Soup
  Cents-able Solutions: "Antidepressants"
• Chapter 7: Clever Kids' Meals
  The Usual Suspects, Hippie Food, Baby Food, Colorful Birthday Party
  Cents-able Solutions: Snacks for Starving STudents
• Chapter 8: Midnight Snacks
  Mediterranean Meze Munchies, Hot, Toasty, Cheesy and Melty
  Secret Sweets
  Cents-able Solutions: Dollar-Stretching Dot-Coms
• Chapter 9: Thrifty Gifts
  Tasty Tokens, Dessert with Benefits, The Frugal Beauty
  Cents-able Solutions: Restaurant Recessionista
• Acknowledgments 
• About the Authors
  

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Conclusion

There are still many recipes in this book that I plan to try, so I will be using this book for quite a while. I whole-heartedly recommend this cookbook to anyone who would like to experiment with recipes and enhance their frugal lifestyle (and cooking skills) with yummy bites. 

My rating:

Find out more about The Frugal Foodie by Lara Starr with Lynette Shirk:

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