Bon Appétit

This month, Bake Club takes inspiration from a popular chain restaurant for our own take on a beautiful, fluffy and cheesy biscuit that is transformed with the help of Old Bay seasoning. Hosts Shilpa Uskokovic and Jesse Szewczyk make the case for why biscuits are a must for any occasion. “Anything bread can do…a biscuit can do better,” says Shilpa. Jesse and Shilpa tackle listener questions and baker and writer Cheryl Day, a biscuit guru who made them everyday for 22 years in her bakery, stops by the clubhouse. Cheryl’s advice for the best biscuit is simple. “I would say: practice, practice, practice … then, take notes.”We’d love to hear from you! Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected]: Garlic Bread Biscuits RecipeAn Ode to Old Bay, the Great American Condiment from The New YorkerOld Bay Breakfast PotatoesPeel ’n’ Eat Old Bay and Garlic ShrimpOld Bay Chips With Lemon MayoGlazed Fried Chicken with Old Bay and CayenneBaltimore-Style Crab Cakes Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

January is bleak, but this month’s Bake Club recipe is bound to put a smile on your face! Hosts Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic dive into the world of bagels. Jesse talks us through the tips and tricks of how to make the perfect bagel from the comfort of your own kitchen. “Bagels are like this blank canvas,” says Jesse, “Where the yeast and the wheat are the flavor…and the toppings, obviously.”Plus, Melissa Weller from Bub’s Bakery in New York City drops by the clubhouse. Melissa is a James Beard nominee and author of two beautiful books, A Good Bake and Very Good Bread. She discusses her love of bagels and how her past life as a chemical engineer helped her hone her craft as a recipe developer. Melissa also tackles a tricky listener question on how to make gluten-free bagels.We’d love to hear from you! Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected] Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A special bonus episode this week from our friends at The Chef’s Cut podcast. Every Tuesday Top Chef alums Adrienne Cheatham and Joe Flamm share behind-the-scenes chef insights and candid conversations with people in the food industry. Recently, they caught up with Editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit and Epicurious, Jamila Robinson. They discuss what it takes for a chef to get noticed by Bon Appétit, how much testing goes into each recipe on our site and the countless hours that go into working on helping to pick the 50 Best Restaurants for North America.BA Bake Club will be back on February 3 as we tackle this month’s recipe for bagels. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This month on BA Bake Club, hosts Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic break out their whisks and create a picture perfect pavlova. It has all the top textures of a showstopping bake: It’s crunchy, it’s chewy, it’s decadent and it’s boozy. Inspired by Shilpa’s childhood favorite, Black Forest gâteau, we dive into the inbox and dig into listener questions. And Shilpa preaches about the virtue of a cracked meringue. “My point is if it cracks, it's okay,” says Shilpa. “That's really what the whipped cream and the toppings are for sure. Just patch it back together.” Watch Shilpa make her fool-proof pavlova on Instagram. 2025 James Beard award-winning cookbook author Nicola Lamb also stops by to help weigh in on what you can do with leftover egg yolks and comes up with some creative suggestions! You can find Nicola on Instagram and her Substack called Kitchen Projects. Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected]. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We like big cinnamon buns and we cannot lie. December’s Bake Club is dedicated to the tireless efforts of Shilpa Uskokovic and her creation of a giant, gooey cinnamon roll. Not only is this recipe perfect for any festive gathering, but it also has all the nostalgia of a mall food court in the 90s. Shilpa tells Jesse about her decision to include two specialty ingredients and the importance that they had in shaping the structure of the recipe. And we meet another baker we think you should know: Patrick Shaw-Kitch of Brooklyn Granary & Mill. Patrick not only bakes, but mills his own flour for his creations and tells us why we should think more about where our flour comes from and how to harness it in our bakes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Meet Wally Amos. He founded the ubiquitous Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies in 1975, turning the brand into an overnight sensation and himself into a pop-culture fixture in the 1970s and 1980s.But there’s a darker side to Wally’s seemingly sweet story. One filled with five marriages to six women and a string of bad business decisions that led him to lose the empire he had created.When he passed away in 2024, host Sarah Amos set out to untangle her father’s complicated past and finally face the life and legacy she had been avoiding.New episodes every Wednesday: swap.fm/l/vf-toughcookie-feed Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Finally, Jesse, BA's resident cookie expert, treats the Bake Club to his latest creation: Chocolate Chip Cookies With Olive Oil and Sea Salt. In this episode, Jesse and Shilpa discuss how this accidentally vegan chocolate chip cookie came together. They explore the best methods to ensure the perfect chocolate distribution in the cookie and what Jesse meant by cooking flour to the color of ‘desert sand’. Plus, listeners share how they managed with the October Bake Club treat and cookie enthusiast Dorie Greenspan (of xoxoDorie) tells us when to tap and not to tap our cookie sheets on the counter. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This episode is from our friends at Milk Street Radio. Bon Appétit columnist Maggie Hennessy helps us navigate the new rules of dining out. Is it ever OK to take out your phone? What’s the best way to grab your server’s attention? And how fussy is too fussy? Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Hold onto your piping bags, Bake Club! In September, Jesse set bakers a showstopper-worthy challenge in his Banana Pudding Paris-Brest. In this episode, he and Shilpa break down the many worthwhile steps for making this "drag queen of French desserts." They're also joined by superstar baker Zoë François (of the ZoëBakes newsletter) to answer a listener question about conventional vs convection ovens.Recipes & Links:Pictures: Jeannine's choux tire, Elyse's choux ring, Katy's bananasZoe's Raspberry Paris-BrestJoin us on Substack!You can find all the BA Bake Club recipes, including this one, here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We'll say it: late summer is peak pie season. And August's Bake Club recipe - for Shilpa's cardamom-laced Peach-Blueberry Crumb Pie - provides an excellent reason to turn your oven on and crank up the AC. In this episode, Shilpa and Jesse commiserate about how frustrating pie crust seemed (at least until Shilpa developed her Actually Perfect Pie Crust), and why pre-cooking your fruit is the secret to tender, crispy crust and perfectly-set filling. They'll also answer listener questions and introduce Bake Clubbers to pie expert Erin Jeanne McDowell, author of The Book on Pie.Join us on Substack!You can find all the BA Bake Club recipes, including this one, here. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In this bonus episode of BA Bake Club, Jesse and Shilpa take the stage live at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY to introduce a new audience to the club. They cover the rules of Bake Club and give a sample of the kinds of questions they answer on the podcast - plus share some baking horror stories of their own!Join us on Substack!Listen to the other interviews from the show on the This is TASTE podcast. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For July's bake, you all brought out your dutch ovens to make Jesse's crusty-yet-tender Cheddar Jalepeño loaf. On this episode, Shilpa and Jesse break down the process of making this same-day, no-knead bread and answer listener questions about overnight proofing, filling options, and more!Join our new Substack chat!Watch Jesse demonstrate the stretch-and-fold process. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

June's bake, the delightfully tropical Hummingbird Cake, was the first Bake Club layer cake, and our listeners had questions! Jesse and Shilpa dig in to this iconic Southern cake and explain the differences between our recipe and the classic. Plus, they're joined by Great British Bake Off S1 winner Edd Kimber to answer a listener question and talk all things small batch baking.Buy tickets to STAY COOL: A Summer Food Podcast Evening here: https://www.thebellhouseny.com/staycool And, send us your baking questions and stories of your worst baking disasters at [email protected] or at this form to be featured on the live show! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In this episode, Chris and Amiel Stanek answer a mix of questions from our inbox, about cooking in an AirBnb, Castelvetrano olives, what to do with a surplus of nuts, and more.Recipes & Links:Chris Morocco's Extremely Extra Travel Coffee KitSizzling Turmeric-Dill Fish TacosDate-Almond Party SnackKale Salad with Pecan VinaigretteAromatic Rice PilafChicken Tinga TostadasDinner by Meera Sodha Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Put on the kettle, grab your finest Earl Grey, and join Jesse & Shilpa to discuss their recipe for Coffee Cake Scones. They'll discuss the recipe development process (and the existential journey it took them on), answer questions from bake clubbers, and introduce listeners to New Orleans-based recipe developer and pastry chef Bronwen Wyatt... who ALSO recently developed a coffee cake scone.Recipes & Links:Mary O's BakeryBayou Saint Cake (Bronwen's website)Nicola Lamb's Kitchen Projects NewsletterBronwen's Coffee Cake SconesApple Hazelnut Rye CakeFruitcake in Space Podcast Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Shivani LOVES salad. But by Friday, the lettuce she bought on Monday is just... sad. To help Shivani get a fresh, crisp salad on the table every night, Chris calls on Jess Damuck, the cookbook author behind Salad Freak and Health Nut. The key? Rethinking what a salad can be. Recipes & Links:Cantaloupe, Cucumbers, Lime, and MintWatermelon Salad with Shiso, Plum, and SaltCrunchy Beans Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We get messages in our inbox ALL the time from listeners who have planned dinner parties, picnics, and other gatherings... but want our advice on what to serve. So this week, Chris is joined by hostess-with-the-mostess Kendra Vaculin to tackle a bevy of listener questions and menu-plan for strawberry-picking lunches, murder mystery dinner parties, and more!Recipes & Links:Brisket BourguignonPreserved Lemon and Tomato ChickenPoached Cod in Tomato CurryLemony Risotto with Fennel and ParmesanCreamy Rabbit BologneseSquash and Caramelized Onion TartLamb Meatballs with Raisin PestoTofu Meatballs in Burst Tomato SauceStrawberry Salad with Black Pepper-Feta CroutonsThree-Minute Red Wine VinaigrettePasta al LimoneParty Salmon with Green RomescoBraised Chicken with Harissa and OlivesCitrus Caramel Sundaes with Toasted AlmondsHarissa-and-Maple Roasted CarrotsGrilled Mushroom Antipasto SaladSlow-Cooker Peanut Butter ChickenCucumber, Tomato and Green Bean SaladZa'atar Fire CrackersMarinated Zucchini with Hazelnuts and Ricotta Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Natalie and her husband are capable, adventurous cooks, but they can't seem to get leafy greens on the menu outside of a salad. So Chris and Kendra Vaculin team up to sell Natalie on their favorite greens and techniques.Recipes & Links:Lemony Tortellini Soup with Spinach and DillSalmon Rice Bowl with Green Curry Creamed SpinachMostly Chard Tiny Pasta SaladCharred Kale with Citrus and Green TahiniGarlic-and-Parmesan Braised Greens Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices