Nº 91: Sourdough Starters, World’s Best Cheese, and a 100-Year-Old Oyster Promise

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In this Episode

Highlights & “Must-Listen” Moments

* 0:00 — Welcome to the live, and a tech hiccup: We start strong (one minute early!) before Amy promptly drops off the call. Welcome to live television, folks.

* 2:22 — Big announcement — we’re moving to Wednesdays at noon ET: David (Fatty Daddy) is almost 66 and exhausted by late-night shows. Starting next week, Talking with My Mouth Full goes live every Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern. West Coasters, that’s 9 a.m. Europeans, we see you, too.

* 6:20 — Amy’s sourdough report: The Miche: Amy’s been baking her way through the King Arthur Big Book of Bread, and this week’s loaf was a miche — a classic French whole-grain sourdough, deeply tangy, chewy, and wonderfully moisture-retaining. Her starter is named Lazarus (given to her by a pastry chef at The Alna Store in Maine), and the name fits.

* 10:28 — David’s food week: Lasagna Bianca and the Coca-Cola Brisket Aftermath: David finally had all the right cheeses (ordered from Caputo’s) for his five-cheese lasagna bianca, with handmade noodles rolled to setting 6 or 7 — so thin you can see through them. (Marcella Hazan once wrote him to say that’s exactly how it should be done.) He also confesses to eating an entire five-pound Coca-Cola brisket over the course of several days. No regrets.

* 10:45 — The L. Reuteri Yogurt Rabbit Hole: Amy has gotten into making homemade yogurt using Lactobacillus reuteri, a culture promoted by Dr. William Davis (Wheat Belly) for its alleged gut-health and serotonin-boosting effects. The evidence: her sister-in-law went from tightly wound to noticeably chill. It’s made with half-and-half and is genuinely delicious. Amy’s verdict: she may have a delightful personality again.

* 15:30 — ADHD confessions: David opens up about struggling to function without The One around — 269 unpublished posts sitting in his website backend, four photos from a shoot last June never uploaded, six holiday videos still in draft. Amy relates: She says she’s somewhere on the spectrum, and got into a fight with Scott when she started raking leaves at 1 p.m. for a 2 p.m. departure. (She was ready by 2:05, for the record.) Audience members chimed in to share their own experiences.

* 22:10 — Books We Love: Morning Baker by Roxana Jullapat: David shares his excitement about this upcoming baking book (drops April 7th), packed with gorgeous recipes from the author of Mother Grains. Donuts, French toast, and beautiful photography — this one earned a “must have the physical copy.”

* 24:46 — Amy’s Pick: A Kitchen on Goose Cove by Devin Finigan: Amy recommends this forthcoming cookbook from the chef of Aragosta restaurant in Maine, arriving later in April. The restaurant sits at the edge of an enchanted-forest cove overlooking the bay — and the food is just as stunning.

* 27:18 — Amy’s current read: Le Road Trip by Vivian Swift: A beautifully illustrated chronicle of a honeymoon road trip through France, with sections on Bordeaux’s food and wine scene. Swift is an illustrator and writer, and Amy is captivated by the humanity of the hand-drawn work