№ 93: Baking with Jessica Battilana of King Arthur Baking Company

WATCH THE EPISODE HERE

In this Episode

Highlights & “Must-Listen” Moments

* 0:00 — Another chaotic tech day: An hour of audio problems before the show even begins. The invitation went out to 250,000 people; by the time they got the show running, 16 lovely souls had joined. David was cursing like a sailor off-camera. Business as usual.

* 1:56 — Amy’s food week: Passover, Easter, cardamom buns, and scrambled eggs: Amy hosted both Passover and Easter in the same week — a double-whammy that was exhausting and wonderful. She made the cardamom buns from Juno Bakery in Copenhagen again (they came out beautifully), and then had a quiet week after that, during which she rediscovered the joy of perfect scrambled eggs: generous olive oil, high heat to start, back of a fork, constant small wrist movements to create tiny curds, then immediately turn the heat down. Creamy, silky, and completely underrated.

* 4:30 — Amy’s Weekends with Yankee shout-out: Episode two of the new season is out now on public television. Featured recipe: a tomato tartine from Groundswell Café in Tiverton, Rhode Island, right on the Farm Coast where Rhode Island and Massachusetts meet. Available on newengland.com.

* 5:31 — David’s food week: Homemade Spaghetti Amatriciana and Prime Heritage Pork Chops: David made homemade spaghetti amatriciana from scratch — the first time he’s ever run spaghetti through the roller — and the results were restaurant-quality. His version includes guanciale or pancetta, DOP San Marzano tomatoes, a touch of balsamic vinegar (not traditional, but it lifts the whole dish), red pepper flakes, and Pecorino. Then, the main event: prime heritage pork chops from Boardman Bridge Butchers, two inches thick, served simply with salt, pepper, roasted sweet potato, and a salad. What pork tasted like before factory farming. David nearly wept.

* 8:42 — ADHD update: David finally has a coach and a PsyD on his team. Progress is being made. The meds remain elusive, but we’re getting there.

* 9:01 — Introducing Jessica Battilana: Amy introduces their guest — Jessica Battilana, staff editor at King Arthur Baking Company, award-winning writer and recipe developer, co-host of the King Arthur podcast Things Bakers Know, co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling The King Arthur Big Book of Bread, and author of her own book Repertoire: All the Recipes You Need. She also co-authored Vietnamese Home Cooking with Charles Phan, Tartine Book No. 3 with Chad Robertson, and Baking at 20th Century Cafe with Michelle Polzine — among 16 books total. Amy and Jessica have known each other for two decades, from their Sunset Magazine days in California to Boston Magazine, and ran into each other in line for Bridget Everett at a Boston theater just last week.

* 10:40 — The new King Arthur pizza book: Jessica’s 16th book, a King Arthur pizza book, just dropped. David has been raving about it on the show. Photographed by Andy Lee; the photography alone is stunning.

* 13