Few authors are as popular in the foodblogging world as Dorie Greenspan so you can imagine my delight when she agreed to let me interview her. A special correspondent for Bon Appétit magazine, the author of nine cookbooks, and the recipient of five James Beard and IACP awards, Dorie is a gifted baker whose writing makes even the most complex recipes accessible to baking enthusiasts of every skill level. She describes her newest work, Baking: From My Home to Yours, as her “most personal book… filled with stories and my all-time favorite recipes.” If you haven’t added it to your collection yet, you can peek inside by visiting Sara’s cookbook spotlight or my entry about ‘Secret Agent Banana Bundt Cake.’ I’ve also included Dorie’s recipe for “Corniest Corn Muffins” at the bottom of this post. Made with buttermilk, stone-ground cornmeal and whole corn kernels, my husband and I frequently enjoy these satisfying morsels with thick slices of melting butter and big bowls of homemade chili.
My heartfelt thanks to Dorie for taking time out of her busy schedule so that we could all get to know her a little better. And now, without further ado, the interview:
What did you have for breakfast this morning and where did you eat it?
I love breakfast and I love making breakfast foods – pancakes, waffles, muffins, scones, eggs of all kinds – but I rarely have a real breakfast during the week. Today, being a weekday, I had a cappuccino and I had it at my desk. Sad, but typical.
Who has had the biggest influence on your style of baking?
It’s hard to say since I’ve been baking for so long and – luckily for me – keep meeting people from whom I learn a lot and who, by extension, influence me greatly.
I learned to bake at home from books and, in the book department, Maida Heatter was my first hero. I baked my way through her first book, Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts, and then couldn’t wait for her next book. I think we have similar styles in that we are both very much home bakers and both tend to add a touch of sophistication to homey favorites.
After Maida Heatter, whose work is very American, I veered toward the French and have continued to veer ever since. I baked my way through the first Gaston Lenotre book to be published in English, then worked with several French chefs, most significantly Pierre Herme, who introduced me to new techniques and new combinations of flavors and textures. Without question, what I learned from the many chefs I worked with has become part of my style, even if I can’t single out a particular lesson, instance or stylistic quirk – which I can’t.
What is your fondest food-related childhood memory?
I loved Sunday morning breakfasts, which were always big, always long and always delicious. You can never go wrong with handmade, fresh-from-the-bakery bagels and great smoked salmon, which was our Sunday morning ritual.
But I also have great memories of my grandmother’s baking – of her apple cake and her sugar cookies; and of stopping with my mother at this roadside stand on the way to the beach, where we’d get terrific soft-shell crab sandwiches; and of going to Lundy’s, a huge seafood restaurant, where we’d start the meal with a bowl of steamers (long-necked clams) that we’d open, run through broth to get rid of their sand, then dip in melted butter. We’d finish with blueberry pie and peach ice cream.
My mother didn’t cook, but she loved food, so we went out a lot – something I loved – and always had wonderful store bought treats.
How did you become a writer? Have you always known that you wanted to write about food?
It’s funny, but when I was thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up food writing wasn’t even an option – no one was called a food writer. There were writers, some (very few) who wrote about food, but just about none of whom were known as food writers. But, even if food writing had been an option, I don’t think I would have chosen it since I only became passionate about food when I got married and learned to cook.
It’s hard to say how I became a writer. When I was in my 20s I had a terrific job as a social researcher and, as part of this work, I did a lot of writing – field reports, case studies and grant proposals. As a result, I came to like writing and wanted to become good at it. I then went to graduate school where I did all the course work for a doctorate in gerontology – but instead of writing my dissertation, I baked and baked and baked, had a baby, baked and baked and baked, and eventually decided that what I really wanted to do was to bake. I baked professionally for a while, then had the chance to do a recipe piece for Food&Wine magazine. That was the clincher – I loved doing it and wanted to keep doing it.
I seem to have fallen into food writing in much the same way that I seem to have fallen into so much of my life. I’m not a good planner – actually, I’m not a planner, period – and I’ve never really organized my life. But I’ve always said “yes” when opportunities have come along and saying “yes” has pretty much always turned out to be a good thing.
When I first baked for my husband six years ago I ended up setting an apple cobbler on fire. What is your most memorable “kitchen catastrophe” moment?
I don’t mean to one-up-you, really I don’t, but the first time I went into the kitchen I was 13 years old, I was with friends, we wanted to make frozen French fries and I burned down the kitchen! It’s amazing I ever cooked again! Not that I ever cooked in my parents’ house again – the next time I faced a kitchen was when I got married.
When you begin working on a new book what comes first: the recipes or the concept?
I’ve never thought about a book project this way. Hmmm. Of course, it’s always about the food, so I would have to say that the food (probably not recipes, per se) comes first. Yes, the food comes first! (Thanks for letting me work this out.) But for me, food is always in a context – it’s about people, places, occasions, cultures, traditions and ingredients, of course – so I’ve never really thought about what comes first; the recipes and the concept are intimately entwined.
I’m starting a new book, “At the French Table,” which will be about home cooking in France and I’ll be traveling around the country collecting recipes and stories. I’m so excited about the work and feel so lucky that I’ll be able to do this because it combines everything that I love - but if I think back to last year, when I was working on the proposal for the book, I don’t think I can truly say whether it was the recipes or the concept that came first. Again, they seemed inseparable.
Take us through a typical Dorie Greenspan day. When does it begin, when does it end, and what happens in between?
“Typical” depends on where I am, but my days usually begin very early (I’m up by 6 and at my desk by 6:30 when I’m in New York) and end earlyish (in New York), late (in Connecticut) or very late (in Paris). In between, no matter where I am, I work. Because what I do is what I love, it’s sometimes hard to think of work as work, but I work at something every day, whether it’s writing (I usually write something daily), recipe development, testing, researching or exploring, the latter of which can mean going to markets and specialty stores or trying new pastry shops, bakeries and restaurants.
I’m amazingly lucky to have three great places to work. I do my best writing and find it most comfortable to write in New York, where I have a small, very messy, but oddly efficient office in a room right behind the kitchen; and in Connecticut, where my “office” is a big table that sits between the island in the kitchen and the dining room table (the kitchen/office/dining rooms are one big room). This office looks out over a pond and a waterfall, photos of which turn up often on my blog.
Paris is the place I find it hardest to write. I’ve got everything I need, including a little table set up near a sunny window right outside the kitchen, but I can never – unless I’m on a hard deadline – settle down enough to really write. However, no place is more inspiring to me than Paris and that’s where I get so many great ideas. No matter where I am, I bake and cook, although I never test recipes in Paris - it’s just too risky to work on recipes there that will be published in America.
And, of course, wherever I am, my family and friends are always part of my “typical” day. I’d hate to think what a day would be like without them.
What is your favorite comfort food dish?
My favorite “hot” comfort food dish is boiled rice, either white or brown. I love rice in every form, hot or cold. Sometimes I’ll make a pot of rice in the morning and nibble at it all day, often just drizzling it with a little olive oil or sometimes making it into a salad by adding chopped vegetables.
My favorite “cold” comfort food dish really isn’t a dish, it’s ice cream and I have it everyday – some days I may just have a spoonful, and other days …
And then there are the M&Ms …
If money were no object, what would your dream kitchen be like?
My dream kitchen would have a gnome in permanent attendance to run to the store when I’ve forgotten that extra quart of milk, to chop onions (I’ll do everything else, but I hate the tears that come with onions) and, I bet this almost goes without saying, to wash the dishes and generally tidy up after me.
I have pieces of my dream kitchen in my three kitchens, but if I could put them all together I’d have a kitchen with abundant natural light and spot lights just where I need them (which seems like everywhere); tons of counter space (even when I’ve got a lot of counter space, I can always use just a foot more); easy access to the tools I use daily; a sink that’s both wide and very deep – make that two sinks, while we’re at it; one of those super-fast professional dishwashers; two ovens (oh, what I’d do for an extra oven); a great exhaust system; air conditioning; a good sound system (I love having music in the kitchen); an indoor kitchen garden with all the fresh herbs I love; and that gnome.
How do you feel about being so popular on the food blog circuit? Is there anything you would like to say to your fans?
I have been knocked-out, stunned, astonished, mind-boggled and thoroughly tickled by how popular my book and my recipes have been on the food blog circuit. Honestly, I can’t believe it, but it means the world to me that so many people have made my recipes and, more important, have found pleasure in them. I am deeply touched by how generous people in the blogosphere have been with their time, energy, enthusiasm and encouragement and I just wish there were some way that I could thank each blogger who has written about me and my work. I really don’t have words to express how much this has meant to me, so to you, Ari, and to everyone else “out there”, I say THANK YOU!
Dorie Greenspan’s Corniest Corn Muffins
From “Baking from My Home to Yours”
Ingredients: Makes 12 Muffins
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3 tablespoons corn oil (I used olive oil since it was handy)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 cup corn kernels (add up to 1/3 cup more if you’d like) - fresh, frozen or canned (in which case they should be drained and patted dry)
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg, if you’re using it. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter, oil, egg and yolk together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough - the batter will be lumpy, and that’s just the way it should be. Stir in the corn kernels. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
You can learn even more about Dorie by visiting her blog at www.doriegreenspan.com. Her cookbooks include:
- Baking: From My Home to Yours
- Baking with Julia
- Paris Sweets: Great Desserts From the City’s Best Pastry Shops
- Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme
- Desserts by Pierre Herme
- Waffles: From Morning to Midnight
- Pancakes: From Morning to Midnight
- Cafe Boulud Cookbook: French-American Recipes for the Home Cook
