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Episode 72

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Published on:

17th Mar 2025

WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: Foods We Love AND Foods We Hate (Part 2)

We're still on our kick about personal tastes. After three dozen cookbooks, we're nothing but opinionated about food! It's our passion, after all.

We'll let you know our preferences in the hopes we can hear more about yours. We've also got a one-minute cooking tip. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week.

Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:

[00:54] Our one-minute cooking tip: keep a dry-erase white board by your freezer.

[02:43] Part two of the the foods we love and the foods we hate

[24:53] What’s making us happy in food this week? Fresca and jam oat bars.

Transcript
Bruce:

Hey, I'm Bruce Weinstein, podcast Cooking

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Mark: with Bruce and Mark.

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And I'm Mark Scarborough, and together

with Bruce, we have written three dozen

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cookbooks on our own, not counting

the ones for celebrities, ahem, Dr.

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Phil, and others, uh, which I'm not

supposed to say because of confidentiality

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agreements, but that's a whole story

in and of itself, but I said it anyway.

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Uh, we've written a lot of cookbooks

and been in, uh, food business

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for now, what, 26, 27 years.

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We've been doing this a long time.

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This is our podcast about food

and cooking and our passion.

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We, as always have a one

minute cooking tip for you.

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We're going to continue what we did

in the last episode of this podcast,

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which is tell you some of our loves and

hates the foods we actually love and

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the foods we hate to get you thinking

about the foods you love and you hate.

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And then at the end, we'll tell you

what's making us happy in food this week.

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So let's get started.

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Bruce: our one minute cooking tip.

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Keep a whiteboard, you know, where

you can use markers on it next to

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your refrigerator so that you can

inventory what's in the freezer.

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Because if you're like me, you buy

stuff when it's on sale, you buy things

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when they look good, you shove it

in the freezer and six months later,

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you have no idea what's in there.

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So we have a freezer in our basement and

we have a big whiteboard and I keep a

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tally of Everything that's in there, I

remember to add things when I put them

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in, and I erase them when I take them out.

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Okay, now I'm going to make fun of you.

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Oh, please

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Mark: do.

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Yeah, please.

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You know smart refrigerators can do

this without a whiteboard, right?

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You know that people who

have smart refrigerators

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Bruce: don't need the whiteboard.

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Okay, if you have a smart

refrigerator, you don't need

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my one minute cooking today.

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No, you do not!

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Now I would like to know how many of

you actually have a smart refrigerator.

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So, please go to our Facebook

group, Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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And tell me if you have

a smart refrigerator.

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And if you say you do,

I want a picture of it.

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Mark: A smart refrigerator will have,

in fact, note taking abilities right

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on the door of the refrigerator itself.

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Bruce: I'mma love it.

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Mark: Your tip is for

ancient people as we are.

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But, okay, yes, a whiteboard

is really, uh, good.

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And Bruce says that there's one right

down by the freezer in our basement.

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And it keeps a tally of

everything that's in there.

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Okay, before we get to the

next segment of this podcast.

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Let me say, I remind you that

it would be great if you could

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subscribe to this podcast.

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And if you could rate it, that's perfect.

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If you can give it a star

rating on whatever platform

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you're listening to this on.

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And if you could write a review

that is going even above and

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beyond the call of duty, but we are

unsupported and your reviews help

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keep us fresh in the algorithm.

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So even something like great

podcast or thanks for the

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podcast that really does help.

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And it is the way that

you can actually support.

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This podcast, because otherwise

we have eschewed any kind of other

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support so that we can say things

like what we're about to say, the

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foods we like and the foods we hate.

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Let's get to it.

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Bruce: I'm going to start

with something I hate.

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Mark: Okay.

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Bruce: Fake.

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Apple flavoring.

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Mark: Fake apple flavoring.

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I don't even know what that is.

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Okay,

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Bruce: so I can go back to my childhood

and remember life savers that came in

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multi flavors and they were apple ones.

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I didn't like and Jolly Rancher candy.

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Yes.

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Mark: Sour,

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Bruce: sour, green, sour apple.

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And I love the watermelon.

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I love the grape.

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I love the strawberry.

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The apple.

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No, thank you.

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Jelly bellies to this day.

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I will not Buy Jelly Bellies anymore,

because you might accidentally get

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one in your mouth that's apple.

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Or licorice, eww, or root beer.

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But the apple ones really turn my stomach.

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And the thing is, I

love fake fruit flavor.

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Fake banana flavor?

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One of my favorite things ever invented.

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Mark: I'm not a fan of Jolly Ranchers,

so the whole thing kind of is beyond me.

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But I do now know what you

mean by fake apple flavor.

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It's that fake green, tart

green apple flavor, unquote.

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Bruce: Yeah, and when Mark and I

used to make lollipops and hard

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candies at the holidays for all of

our family, and I would never ever,

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ever buy the apple flavoring for them.

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I just couldn't do it.

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We made banana.

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We made chocolate.

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We made coconut.

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Yeah, that's true.

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But I would never make apple.

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That's true.

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I never liked it.

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Okay, so something I like.

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Let's stay with the sweet.

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Now, this is something I haven't had in a

long time because I can't find it anymore.

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But soft serve vanilla ice cream with it.

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Hot marshmallow topping.

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Oh my, so you like diabetes.

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Alright, fine.

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What

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Mark: is soft serve ice cream

with a hot marshmallow topping?

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Well, soft serve,

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Bruce: like a Dairy Queen, but when I

was growing up in Queens, we had Carvel.

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I know what

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Mark: soft serve is.

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It's the hot marshmallow part of it.

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Carvel offered

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Bruce: you hot fudge.

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Or wet nuts, or pineapple.

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Wet

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Mark: nuts?

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This is not that kind of podcast.

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Go on.

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Or

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Bruce: pineapple, or strawberry

syrup, or hot marshmallow.

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And you, so basically it's like

you heat up marshmallow fluff.

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And you put it on ice cream.

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What?

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And you have the hot creamy

with the cold creamy.

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And it was my favorite.

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I can feel it catching

in the back of my throat.

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When my sister visited last

year, we took you to Carvel.

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You did, and I And you

did have your soft serve.

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And I almost died on the way

home because I'm so full.

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She said get the medium, and the

medium could serve a family of six.

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Yes, I know.

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And she had one, you had

one, and Mike had one.

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Oh.

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But they didn't have any

hot marshmallow topping.

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Hot

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Mark: marshmallow topping.

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I

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Bruce: love it.

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Okay.

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Yum.

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Mark: All right.

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Well, um, I'm going to

say something that I love.

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And this will kind of

crack you up, I think.

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Maybe.

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I don't know.

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I like good All American

block, yellow cheese.

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Uh, I know Government cheese.

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Government cheese.

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I know this is insane.

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You think, oh, I think this

guy's written 36 cookbooks, he

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should like better than that.

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I do like other cheeses, and I do

like fine cheesemaking, but I have to

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tell you that many times when we go to

Costco or Bruce goes to the supermarket,

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I say, can you get me just a block

of good old American sharp cheddar?

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Bruce: And you're not talking

about American cheese.

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You're talking about cheddar cheese.

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Mark: Yeah, exactly.

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Cheddar.

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But America, to me, that is what we

growing up called American cheese.

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And I like the sharp version.

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And honestly, a slice of that

is just a fine thing with lunch.

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I, I, I know I wrote for Wine

Spectator and yet here I am

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liking block yellow cheese.

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All right.

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It just is a thing with me.

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I

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Bruce: will say the truth is last week

we went to Costco, and not only did we

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get the block of yellow cheese, but you

did buy the block of Manchego as well.

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I did.

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I'm not saying that I don't

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Mark: like other fancier cheeses.

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I just like that cheese.

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And here's something that I hate, and

if you listen to last week's episode

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of the podcast, you might detect a

theme here, is I cannot stand sweet.

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Barbecue.

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I do not like barbecue

sauce by and large period.

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I like vinegar based barbecue sauces.

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I like Alabama white sauce.

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That's a whole different thing.

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But I don't really

appreciate sweet barbecue.

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And I really don't like your

smoked brisket that has a ton

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of sugary sauce on top of it.

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I just don't think you're in

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Bruce: a minority there because

I think I know I'm in the most U.

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S.

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Citizens think of barbecue as the craft

barbecue sauce that thick corn syrup and

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tomato paste based thing that you slather

on the chicken before you cook it so that

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it's a charred mess when it comes off.

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Mark: And you know, I mean, I

grew up in barbecue country.

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So when I was a kid, we had

this And it's this thing.

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If we want to try a new barbecue

restaurant, what we did is we

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never went in and got the pork

ribs or anything like that.

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We went in and got the brisket.

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Because brisket is the sign of whether

it's a good barbecue restaurant or not.

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And my parents, and I guess they taught

me, my parents ate the brisket, at

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least to begin with, without any sauce.

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Because they wanted to see what

the brisket itself tasted like?

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Was it smoky?

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Was it overly smoked?

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Too smoky so it tasted like, you know,

you burned your house down and licked

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out the fireplace, which is gross.

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Was it too smoky?

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Was it not smoky enough?

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Was it tender?

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And I guess I just continued that

because I don't eat, as Bruce knows,

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Bruce will smoke a brisket, and Bruce

will even make homemade barbecue sauce,

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and I won't touch the barbecue sauce.

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Oh yeah,

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Bruce: I make a chipotle and fig

barbecue sauce, it's so good with fig,

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but it's fig jam and it's got a fig

jam and chipotles, and I do like it,

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but I like a little bit of it, I don't

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Mark: like sweet.

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Pork ribs smoked out of a barbeque,

I don't like any of that sweet

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Bruce: stuff.

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There should be no sauce on pork ribs.

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I'm gonna agree with you on that.

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And I

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Mark: know I'm in the

terrible minority on that.

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But, uh, I just don't like sweet barbeque.

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Bruce: Well, something

that I love is lobster.

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Now, last time I said I love smoked

salmon, I told the whole history of how I

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didn't eat anything that lived in water.

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So of course, lobster was something

I never ate growing up because

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I just couldn't deal with it.

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Partly, you know, lobsters, if you look

at them, they look like giant insects.

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And I mean, these decapods are just,

they are just insects of the ocean.

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I mean, Oh, come on.

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Well, a roach is a

decapod of your kitchen.

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And a lobster is a decapod of

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Mark: Okay, just go on

while you like lobster.

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And do you

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Bruce: know that if you cook a roach,

it turns red like a lobster does?

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Okay, come on.

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Stop.

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So lobsters are so

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Mark: God, you are so 12 years old.

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It's pathetic.

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Bruce: Go on.

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Please go on.

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But it's funny because we have some

friends that whenever we visit them out

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on Long Island, they serve us lobsters,

and this one friend, she's my oldest

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friend in the world, and she only wants

to crack it open and eat all the guts

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and the liquid inside, and then I'll

eat the the tail and the claw off of her

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because she doesn't even want the meat.

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She only wants the sludge inside of it.

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I mean, I may

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Mark: agree with this, but I love

lobster, and I love it in the classic

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way, dipped in butter, in melted butter.

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I just love it.

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It's a spectacular thing, and

I'm lucky to live in New England,

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where it's actually easy to get it.

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Okay, what do you hate, then?

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Bruce: Well, I hate stinky cheese.

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You are totally wrong on that one.

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Parmesan, that's about as

stinky as I want to get.

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Mark: No.

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Bruce: Um, but you love like a pois.

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Mark: I want, I like the cheese, the

soft French cheeses that taste like you

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took your garbage out and then drank

the liquid in the bottom of the can.

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That's exactly what I want.

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And I

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Bruce: can't stand the

smell of a cheese cave.

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Oh my god, I love it.

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There was a restaurant in New York

that was a cheese specialty place

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and we went there with some friends

once and they thought they were doing

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us a favor and an upgrade by seating

us in the cheese cave for dinner.

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Oh, that just like, I couldn't

get past anything else.

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I'm gonna, I'm gonna

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Mark: leave this as my, you mean

hate, and it can be my love.

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I, I love stinky cheese.

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In fact, I have a friend who I

was, uh, she was coming over for

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dinner and, um, she's British.

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But she, she knew that we

were going to serve cheese.

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After dinner, I love what you said to me.

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She said, well, make sure as if I

wouldn't make sure you put it out

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in the morning so it can fester.

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And I was like, exactly.

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That's exactly what I wanted

to do is fester all day long.

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So that is.

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Unbelievably creamy and rich.

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It is a live food product.

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Oh, it's so great.

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I love a poisse more

than I can possibly say.

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Uh, it's, it's like one of those

things in my life that makes me

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just shudder how much I love it.

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But see, I think I have a sugar aversion.

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Except I love birthday

cake, and I love ice cream.

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You're

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Bruce: obsessed with birthday

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Mark: cake.

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I know, and I

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Bruce: love ice cream of all sorts.

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But you don't like wedding cake.

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Isn't that an interesting thing?

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You love birthday cake,

but they're very different.

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Wedding cake frosting is not

the same as birthday cake.

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I

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Mark: mean, it's not I hate wedding cake.

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It's that Crisco y shortening, and I can

feel it catch in the back of my throat.

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I don't like it.

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Okay, so, since you said you hate

stinky cheese, and I said I like it,

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I'll tell you something that I hate.

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Hate is a little bit too much for this,

but I don't care if I ever eat one again.

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And that is a liquor soaked dessert.

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Oh, we've

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Bruce: discussed this

in a previous podcast.

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I

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Mark: don't really care for rum and

bourbon and whiskey brushed onto cakes.

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It's okay.

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If I come to your house and you have

it, I'm not going to turn it away.

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Bruce: Barboso rum where

they're just soaked in it.

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It's not my favorite thing.

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And tres leches cake where

the cake is just soaked in

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Mark: milk.

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That's different.

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That's not, that's not liquor soaked.

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That's, that's a whole different matter.

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It's the liquor soaked.

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And I like the liquor.

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I love brandy, and I love whiskey, and

I love bourbon, and all that stuff.

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And I mostly like the cake.

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It's usually a sponge of some sort.

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I like all of that.

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I don't like the two together.

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Well,

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Bruce: often it's a way for Bakers to make

sure their cakes stay moist and fresh.

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Like when you look at the way a classic

French bakery makes a cake, they'll

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take a sugar syrup with some kind of

liqueur in it and brush it on every

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layer before the buttercream goes on.

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And I

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Mark: think this is partly

my overall sweet aversion.

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Although, again, I just

want to say I love cakes.

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I love pies of all sorts.

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I love ice cream, but I

don't like sweet cocktails.

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So all those things where

you make, I don't want to

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like an old fashioned, right?

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Where you muddle sugar in

the bottom is there was

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Bruce: a sugar cube, right?

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Mark: And all that stuff.

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I don't like Any of those cocktails,

because I don't want sugar in a

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distilled spirit, so I guess that

just connects to the desserts itself.

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So there you go.

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Interesting,

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Bruce: because my next love is both

a sweet dessert that does get a syrup

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and poured over it, which is baklava.

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And I adore baklava.

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I like baklava.

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Philo dough with the butter and

all the candied nuts in there.

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And then when it comes out of the oven,

you pour a syrup over that soaks in.

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We actually have a baklava recipe in

our book, Vegetarian Dinner Parties,

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which uses pecans and instead of

butter, pecan oil and the syrup.

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Mark: Tell them what you

and your friend used to do

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Bruce: before I met you in your

driveway out to Queens to do this.

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Oh, gosh.

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Carol and I would go.

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Out, we'd have to go to one

particular diner in Queens.

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Alright, go on.

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And I would order the baklava and

she would order the cheesecake.

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Uh huh.

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And we would smush them together.

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There you go.

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And you'd just, so, because You called it.

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Because we called it Baklava Cheesecake.

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There you go.

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And so for the book, the ultimate cookbook

that we wrote, I came up with a real cake

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called Baklava Cheesecake, where you it.

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No, I,

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Mark: no, it's not as good.

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I like that you went to the diner, you

each ordered a piece, you ordered a piece

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of baklava, and she ordered cheesecake,

and then you would smash it together.

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We would just

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Bruce: smash it together

like Steve's ice cream.

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We would just, you know,

you're just mushing it.

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There you go.

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Steve's ice cream, you

have just dated yourself.

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And you'd name it, and name it,

and you'd eat it with a spoon, and

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it was baklava mush cheesecake.

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It was the best.

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Okay, um, I guess, uh I did love that,

but what I don't like is raw toast.

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And I know if you think raw

toast is just bread, and I

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don't know why they have that.

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You mean under toasted toast?

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It's raw toast.

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I don't know why toasters have

those numbers one through nine.

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Well, I don't either.

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You know I don't.

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Ten is the only number you need, right?

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Toast should come out brown.

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It should come out mostly

like a shingle, in my book.

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And it should be

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Mark: evenly brown everywhere.

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I toast.

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For the full 10 on our toaster, and

then I put it back again and let

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it go about a half a cycle again.

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I, I made toast for Bruce's mother

once, and she asked me the next day

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if I could not make it that well done.

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I was like, what?

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What are you talking about?

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That's

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Bruce: when I started

calling it raw toast.

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Who knew my mom liked raw toast?

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Mark: I want the toast to short.

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I'm with you on the raw toast.

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So, I guess, then, if I'm going to

say something that I'm going to say

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something that I hate before I say

something I love, so I'm reversing

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it, that you brought up raw toast.

412

:

I also hate, and this is really

funky, I hate burnt toast.

413

:

I

414

:

Mark: despise the smell of burnt toast.

415

:

I don't like toast to have

a blackened edge anywhere.

416

:

It's a very fine line.

417

:

I want to shingle.

418

:

But I don't want it to have

any blackened parts to it.

419

:

I agree with you.

420

:

Well, you agree with me, except every

night our dog eats a piece of toast.

421

:

Our dog has acid reflux.

422

:

And so, before he goes to bed at night,

we give him a piece of toast to kind

423

:

of calm his stomach down all night

long so he doesn't barf in the bedroom.

424

:

And Bruce makes, it's just

whipped bread, like Wonder

425

:

Bread, that he makes for a nosh.

426

:

No.

427

:

Bruce: He likes it.

428

:

It's the Panera Bread.

429

:

He gets Panera Bread.

430

:

Mark: Okay, but it's still whipped bread.

431

:

All right, excuse me.

432

:

The Panera Bread.

433

:

God, what a spoiled dog.

434

:

But every night, you slightly burn

it, and I come in from Walking Nosh

435

:

at night, and you've got the toast

ready, and I smell that burned

436

:

toast, and I'm always like, ugh.

437

:

That's just

438

:

Bruce: a testament to how much sugar

they put in their dough, because I

439

:

just got a number 10 on the toaster.

440

:

So your lovely whole grain toast in

the morning doesn't burn, but his does.

441

:

Okay,

442

:

Mark: so, one of the things I love,

since I'm going to reverse order,

443

:

since I hate burnt toast, is I

love braises of almost all sorts.

444

:

Lucky

445

:

Bruce: you, you're getting one tonight.

446

:

Mark: I know, and Bruce

makes a lot of braises.

447

:

I talked about the passatas that he's

been making with the Italian tomato.

448

:

But he's also been doing a lot of

these open skillet braises where

449

:

he, uh, browns chicken really well.

450

:

Chicken thighs really well in a skillet.

451

:

And then he adds all the aromatics

and vegetables and stock and

452

:

brings it up to a simmer.

453

:

Puts the chicken thighs back in

and then shoves it in the oven.

454

:

And essentially braises the

browned chicken in the oven.

455

:

I love that.

456

:

So I couldn't agree with you more.

457

:

I couldn't agree more.

458

:

I would rather have a braise.

459

:

I think this is a crazy

thing that a roast.

460

:

So there you go.

461

:

Bruce: If I think about that

whiteboard that we have next to

462

:

the freezer and all the things in

that freezer that could be braised.

463

:

I have a shoulder of goat.

464

:

I have a leg of goat.

465

:

I have so many bone and chicken thighs.

466

:

There's so much braising

coming in your future.

467

:

I love

468

:

Mark: phrases.

469

:

Bruce: Okay, so something else that I

love and this is Seasonal, unfortunately,

470

:

because when I try and do it off

season, I'm always disappointed.

471

:

Melon.

472

:

Melon is one of my favorite food.

473

:

You are the melon obsessed human being.

474

:

And all melons.

475

:

I love watermelon.

476

:

You do.

477

:

I love cantaloupe.

478

:

You do.

479

:

I love honeydew.

480

:

You do.

481

:

I love all those melons.

482

:

And you just

483

:

Mark: Bruce eats more watermelon

than you can possibly understand.

484

:

And he eats it as long as

he can find it decently.

485

:

Yeah.

486

:

So if he can find, even here in

winter, Decent watermelons at Costco.

487

:

He'll buy them.

488

:

Bruce: The thing is, you don't know

if it's decent till you cut it open.

489

:

And unfortunately I failed

on that two Costco trips ago.

490

:

The melons looked good,

but it was not very good.

491

:

They always have the golden hammy

melons, those Korean oblong melons.

492

:

And I love those.

493

:

And those are good all year round.

494

:

They're

495

:

Mark: super, if you don't know these

hammy melons, they're super crunchy.

496

:

But

497

:

Bruce: yet they're sweet

and cantaloupe flavor.

498

:

They are the texture of a cucumber, but

the flavor and juice of a watermelon.

499

:

Connected, botanically,

but yeah, connected.

500

:

And so what I do in the winter when

I can't get melons that are really

501

:

good, I just substitute grapes.

502

:

But grapes are also picky because

they have to be crisp and crunchy.

503

:

Grapes that are soft don't do it for me.

504

:

So if I could taste

one in the store, I do.

505

:

But grapes,

506

:

Mark: one of those things that I could

take or leave for the rest of my life.

507

:

Bruce: And there, you

always called them shaped

508

:

Mark: water.

509

:

I know what, mostly to me, they are shaped

water and I'm not a fan of, I love wine.

510

:

Uh, and I even like conquer

grape juice, but I'm, I'm not.

511

:

Uh, fan of grapes in and of themselves.

512

:

Give me a

513

:

Bruce: good crunchy green grape.

514

:

Yeah, I

515

:

Mark: know, but it's a thing.

516

:

My father loved melons too.

517

:

Except Bruce doesn't

do what my father did.

518

:

And that is my father salted all melons.

519

:

Your

520

:

Bruce: father salted everything.

521

:

Mark: Watermelons,

cantaloupes, uh, honeydew.

522

:

Any of those kind of melons, my father

would actually salt them with each bite.

523

:

Bruce: Yeah.

524

:

Each

525

:

Mark: piece of it.

526

:

Alright, well, so what do

you, what do you hate then?

527

:

Bruce: Smooth.

528

:

peanut butter.

529

:

What's the point?

530

:

Oh,

531

:

Mark: I'm with you on this one.

532

:

What is the point of that?

533

:

And do you know, maybe you don't know

this, but this is a gendered thing.

534

:

Do you know that by and large, women

prefer smooth peanut butter to crunchy,

535

:

and that men by and large prefer

crunchy peanut butter to smooth?

536

:

And I, I don't know what that

says, but I am with Bruce.

537

:

I only Smooth peanut butter is okay.

538

:

I

539

:

Bruce: only like Extra crunchy

peanut butter and you know, at this

540

:

point, Mark and I love Costco and

last time we were there, he said,

541

:

look how cheap the peanut butter is.

542

:

And it was the two giant jars

of teddy peanut butter, which I

543

:

love, but they only had smooth.

544

:

I said, all right, I'll try it.

545

:

I bought it.

546

:

I had one spoonful and then I spent the

next month trying to figure out how to

547

:

bake with it because I wouldn't eat it.

548

:

So I made peanut butter biscotti and

peanut butter cookies, peanut butter

549

:

cakes, but it was good for baking.

550

:

You did.

551

:

I,

552

:

Mark: I, I mean, I don't mind soupy,

but I'd rather have it crunchy.

553

:

Okay, so one of the things I love that

Bruce is going to just absolutely gross

554

:

out at, and I bet you might gross at

it too, and it is one of the things

555

:

that makes my eyes roll up in my head.

556

:

Ready?

557

:

Yeah.

558

:

It's raw scallops.

559

:

Um, yeah, no.

560

:

Yeah, I know you are, and

you won't ever eat them.

561

:

It's Raw shellfish.

562

:

Let me finish and then you

can say whatever you want.

563

:

Raw scallops are unbelievable to me.

564

:

And if you don't know, if you've never

had them, um, we go to this place on the

565

:

docks in Portland, Maine, Jay's Seafood

and they have delicious raw scallops.

566

:

And what you do is you take the scallop

and you thinly slice it into really

567

:

thin coins and then you eat them and

it has this gorgeous texture to it.

568

:

I, I just love it more

than I could possibly say.

569

:

Bruce: Yeah, when we go to Jay's,

we get that we share this raw plate.

570

:

We do.

571

:

And I let Mark

572

:

Mark: Actually Ordered it twice.

573

:

We finished the raw plate and

we said to the waiter, uh,

574

:

bring, just bring another one.

575

:

And I always let

576

:

Bruce: Mark have the giant scallop

and he lets me have the extra bit

577

:

of crab, so it, it works out nicely.

578

:

Mark: It does work out, but I think a

lot of people gross out at the thought of

579

:

Bruce: raw

580

:

Mark: scallops.

581

:

Bruce: And I think, you know, I didn't

grow up kosher, but there's just, cause

582

:

I eat cooked scallops and I eat shrimp

and I eat lobster, but the idea of eating

583

:

those things raw, although I love raw

oysters, But I can't eat raw clams.

584

:

There's just something

about it I can't do.

585

:

Oh God, another great

586

:

Mark: thing.

587

:

But raw, if you ever go to a sushi

restaurant, see if they have raw

588

:

scallops and see if you don't like them.

589

:

They're amazing if they're really fresh.

590

:

We had friends who brought a

whole bunch of scallops back

591

:

from the Cape in Massachusetts,

and they were Just dock fresh.

592

:

I mean, they literally ordered them and

picked them up off the boat on the dock

593

:

and we went over to their house for

dinner and we sat at the table and, um,

594

:

our friend made skillet after skillet

of seared scallops, except I said at

595

:

one point, can I just have one raw,

just like dead raw and thinly slice

596

:

it and I'm going to dip it in this

melted butter and oh, it was so good.

597

:

Okay.

598

:

So, there you go.

599

:

You can gross out all you want,

but I love a raw scallops.

600

:

And here's something that you might be

surprised that I don't like as a storied

601

:

food writer, but it is true that I do not

like sesame seeds under any circumstances.

602

:

It's one of those things.

603

:

You don't like

604

:

Bruce: sesame bagels.

605

:

No.

606

:

But you like tahini sauce.

607

:

And you like toasted, so

608

:

Mark: when they ground up.

609

:

And I like, I like Sesame

oil, toasted sesame oil.

610

:

Yeah,

611

:

Bruce: it's just the seeds.

612

:

Is it because they get

stuck in your teeth?

613

:

What is that?

614

:

No,

615

:

Mark: it's something about, like,

sesame seeded hamburger buns.

616

:

The seeds burn if you toast the bun.

617

:

And I don't like that flavor.

618

:

I don't like the burned

flavor of sesame seeds.

619

:

And that's, I'm afraid of raw sesame

seeds that you're going to burn them.

620

:

When you like use them as a garnish on

an Asian dish and you just sprinkle them

621

:

over it, I don't, then it's irrelevant.

622

:

And

623

:

Bruce: what about that sesame candy?

624

:

That's like caramel.

625

:

Hard toasted.

626

:

Hard no.

627

:

Hard no.

628

:

Hard

629

:

Mark: no.

630

:

Hard no.

631

:

Because the seeds take on this

burned, bitter taste and I just,

632

:

it's not my favorite thing.

633

:

And it's, here's, here's a weird part.

634

:

I like halva.

635

:

Right?

636

:

Well that's.

637

:

I love halva.

638

:

But the seeds are not toasted that far.

639

:

No, it's a sesame paste.

640

:

When you put them in that hot

sugar syrup to make that cracky,

641

:

crunchy candy, the seeds burn a

bit and you get that bitter edge.

642

:

I, the same thing with a sesame bagel.

643

:

The seeds have.

644

:

burned a bit, and I just don't like it.

645

:

Well, I

646

:

Bruce: agree with you

about a sesame bagel.

647

:

It's definitely at the bottom of the

list, with, of course, cinnamon raisin

648

:

being at the top, and then poppy,

and then salt, but no, no cinnamon.

649

:

Oh,

650

:

Mark: God, even poppy seed bagels.

651

:

I really, why don't you just go ahead

and get baptized, and get it over

652

:

with, and, like, Uh, seriously, um, no.

653

:

So, I, I do like chalvah, so maybe I

should, uh, go to Hebrew school and

654

:

Bruce: Be my guest.

655

:

Mark: Do the whole bit myself,

since I like chalvah, and I like

656

:

plain bagels, or salt bagels.

657

:

Maybe I'm the one who should actually

go through, what do you go through?

658

:

A bar mitzvah?

659

:

A bar, uh, well, no.

660

:

Uh, anyway, that involves A bris?

661

:

Oh, see that involves certain things.

662

:

I'm not sure about that.

663

:

Okay.

664

:

Suddenly it got scary.

665

:

Um, all right.

666

:

So that's our loves and hates

for this second episode of this

667

:

kind of thing on the podcast.

668

:

We appreciate your being with us.

669

:

Let me remind you that we have a

Facebook group, Cooking with Bruce

670

:

and Mark, and you can go there and

check out this episode, but also tell

671

:

us the things that you love or hate

or whether you agree with us or not.

672

:

Okay.

673

:

The final segment as is traditional,

what's making us happy in food this week.

674

:

Bruce: A blast from the past, Fresca Soda.

675

:

Mark: Fresca?

676

:

Bruce: I know, I found Fresca

677

:

Mark: We have a Is there

Fresca in this house?

678

:

Bruce: There is, a 12 pack.

679

:

Well, um, excuse me.

680

:

It's in the back fridge in the pantry.

681

:

Excuse me.

682

:

Yes, we have multiple fridges.

683

:

What, what?

684

:

Mark: Is there Fresca?

685

:

It's grapefruit soda.

686

:

It's one step to Mountain Dew.

687

:

Is there Fresca in this house?

688

:

No, it's

689

:

Bruce: one step to Tab.

690

:

Oh.

691

:

It's just Fresca and Tab,

we're the same generation.

692

:

Oh

693

:

Mark: my god, my great aunt would drink.

694

:

Tab and Vodka.

695

:

I thought it was so sophisticated

to have Tab and Vodka.

696

:

Well,

697

:

Bruce: maybe tonight I'll

have a Fresca and Vodka.

698

:

Oh, gosh.

699

:

Actually, no, it's Grapefruit.

700

:

I'll have a Fresca and Tequila.

701

:

Mark: Oh, gosh.

702

:

Remember, so maybe you remember,

do you remember the Soda

703

:

Rondo when Rondo came out?

704

:

I think it was a Coke product, I think,

and it was Grapefruit Soda Rondo.

705

:

I know.

706

:

I don't remember that.

707

:

In fact, I was working for the

summer for Coca Cola and I got the

708

:

first bottle of Rondo, it was a

Coke product, to come off the line.

709

:

Wow.

710

:

And I kept that bottle for

years like anybody would know.

711

:

Rondo must

712

:

Bruce: have been sugary, right?

713

:

Fresca is a diet grapefruit soda,

so it has like aspartame in it.

714

:

Yeah, Rondo is sugary.

715

:

Yeah, Fresca is a diet grapefruit soda.

716

:

Oh, interesting.

717

:

Like is why I thought it was

Tab, you know, the diets.

718

:

Mark: Oh, that's, um.

719

:

I don't even, I, I got

nothing to say about that.

720

:

Well,

721

:

Bruce: you could try one.

722

:

Mark: No, I can't believe

it's in my house, so no.

723

:

I'm not doing that.

724

:

I mean, really, honestly, you're

one step away from sweet tea.

725

:

And you're one step away from all

the things she, uh, disapproved of.

726

:

Oh, well.

727

:

Well, uh, no.

728

:

Okay, so what's making me happy in

food this week are jam oat bars,

729

:

and you've probably heard this

already on this podcast, but Bruce

730

:

makes these fantastic jam oat bars.

731

:

You make a dough, and you put half of it

in the pan, and then you slather on a ton

732

:

of jam on top of that, and then you put

the dough, you dollop the dough all over

733

:

the top of that, and then you bake it.

734

:

You can find a recipe for this

and how to do it on our YouTube

735

:

channel, Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

736

:

There's a video of jam oat bars.

737

:

And Bruce has been making a

ton of them for the classes.

738

:

I've been teaching, I'm just about to

finish up a class on Henry James and

739

:

Paul Cezanne, if you can believe it,

in another part of my life, an eight

740

:

week seminar at a local library on it.

741

:

And Bruce is bringing these jam oat

bars, and I tell you, people go nuts

742

:

for these things, and I always hope that

they don't go too nuts so that there's

743

:

one left for me to eat on the way home.

744

:

And

745

:

Bruce: that dough, it's an oatmeal cookie

dough, so it's got these nuts and oats

746

:

in the dough, and they really are good.

747

:

They are.

748

:

I use a.

749

:

Von four fruit jam in the middle,

and they're really delicious.

750

:

And the nice thing that we get

it, Costco, we should really

751

:

be underwritten by Costco.

752

:

And when Mark goes this week

to the last of those classes on

753

:

James and C, he will bring the O

bars and he will drive himself.

754

:

Mark: I know my leg is, I do not have

to, and I am, my right leg was broke and

755

:

I, for eight weeks, I could not drive.

756

:

I drove myself for the first time.

757

:

The physical therapy last week

and I am back able to drive again.

758

:

It's an amazing thing.

759

:

Okay.

760

:

That's the podcast for this week.

761

:

Thanks for being a part

of our podcast journey.

762

:

We appreciate your spending time

with us and we are certainly

763

:

glad you're here with us.

764

:

Bruce: And as Mark said, we do

have a Facebook group cooking with

765

:

Bruce and Mark, and please go there

because every week we tell you

766

:

what's making us happy in food.

767

:

Go there and tell us what's making

you happy in food this week.

768

:

There will be a posting that says.

769

:

What's making you happy in food this week?

770

:

So let us know because we do want to

know here on Cooking with Bruce and Mark.

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About the Podcast

Cooking with Bruce and Mark
Fantastic recipes, culinary science, a little judgment, hysterical banter, love and laughs--you know, life.
Join us, Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, for weekly episodes all about food, cooking, recipes, and maybe a little marital strife on air. After writing thirty-six cookbooks, we've got countless opinions and ideas on ingredients, recipes, the nature of the cookbook-writing business, and much more. If you've got a passion for food, we also hope to up your game once and a while and to make you laugh most of the time. Come along for the ride! There's plenty of room!

About your host

Profile picture for Mark Scarbrough

Mark Scarbrough

Former lit professor, current cookbook writer, creator of two podcasts, writer of thirty-five (and counting) cookbooks, author of one memoir (coming soon!), married to a chef (my cookbook co-writer, Bruce Weinstein), and with him, the owner of two collies, all in a very rural spot in New England. My life's full and I'm up for more challenges!