Al-tira-misu: A stimulating podcast conversation (Episode 36)
Grady: I’m so excited to welcome this week’s Mind Mash guest. As my loyal listeners know I’ve been feeling rather nostalgic for my Pre- pandemic late Millenial youth. So of course I’m low-key binge watching select epsiodes of ”kitch sitch”.,of course it’s predominantly the early episodes set in pre-pandemic Jersey. And of course I needed to get Roxy Chasin one half of the duo that basically invented the genre called Culinary Fantasism. I’m very pleased to welcome the cook/book author, culinary situation show-runner, And Lead Cebutante as her Stans refer to her. She and her now estranged partner, Darrin O’Connell, created Kitch Sitch 15 years ago when I was just a soy boy cooking and feeling his way through the Pandemic.
Roxy: Thank you for that wonderful intro Grady, but I have to insert that WIlly Wonka by Roald Dahl is widely considered the first example of Culinary Fantisism, and others cite Nor Ephron’s Heartburn as an example that predates me and Darrin by decades.
(Edit)
Grady: For me it was the light and frothy repartee between Roxy and Darrin,a kind of promise of the fabulous relationships deliciously waiting for me on the other side of a dead end adolescence. For me it was the fabulous dishes and the timeless “what’s-old-is-new” aesthetic. For me it was the blatant Celebrationist Rizz up, in fact for Halloween one year I went as the Rizzard of Oz as an homage to Episode 34 . The Roxy/Darrin Collab changed culinary content forever, before them it was all kind of the same format-wise. Roxy and Darrin served us heaping serves of Culinary Entertainment. Welcome Roxy
Roxy: Grady thanks for having me.
Grady: How you doing, Roxy?
Roxy: I’m doing well, thank you.
Grady: Yeah? Good. So our pre-show conversation regarding the dark night of the soulshouldn’t alarm me or anything?
Roxy: I was referring to the Dark Nght of the Sole S_O-L-E episode in season 3.
Grady: See that’s just it, Thank you for the set up. We’re about to play a clip from one of my favorite episodes in season 2 Roxy’s drama plays out like a black and white cinema verite scene, as she discovers her husband’s affair and arranges to meet the pair for a very cringe menage a trois. Miss Roxy? Would you like to add anything?
Roxy: Just that the creepy waiter in the LARP-themed den of iniquity “Cafe Laoune” is played by the very excellent Greg Hansen, who now owns and runs a truly excellent cafe in Seattle.
Grady: Ok thanks for the set-up:
Audio Insert: Kitch Sitch Season 2: Episode 3
Waiter: And what can I get you tonight?
Roxy: Just keep the cocktails flowin’
Waiter: Like a Wiccan menstrual ritual
Jed: Excuse me?
Waiter: Might I suggest an appetizer to go with your cock-tails? Ancient Persians were known to stuff figs with creamy cheese to stimulate the senses and sweetens the fluids, so to speak.
Jed: Is this guy for real? What the hell are we doing here, Rox?
Roxy: You know what you’re doing here,
Waiter: La Loune is where couples and their satellites so to speak come….. To invigorate their relationships.
Jed: Man, would you just bring the drinks? ….Who is that guy? He looks like the Sun Devils mascot come alive. his van dyke is tattooed to his face. What is this a Den of iniquity pop-up?
Roxy: , This is a perfect opportunity for your social media director to pump up engagement. Caption: Jed, Head of Company in Sean Seersucker pant (Modern Fit) in his James Bond porno fantasy, two women that you fucked, fucking each other, and then fucking you.
Jed: Woah, Roxy. C’mere, please. Please.
Roxy: She’s not even going to show up, is she?
Jed: No Roxy, it’s crazy, she’s not. Of course she’s not coming.
Roxy: Lost her nerve did she?
Waiter: two pink pussycat martini’s, and a plate of stuffed dates, to fuel the evening’s …shenanigans.
Grady: I’ve noticed a …tendency to represent the dark, troubling, even the disgusting with a light touch that tends towards the sweet. The scene I just played audio for is a dark moment for Roxy, it shows the hearbreak and the humor and the betrayal and the cringe beautifully in moody black and white tones, and the french subtitles. are, not to be missed.
(EDIT)
Grady: You started out as a visual artist and then when you were living with your husband and kids in the Jersey Suburbs became a caterer and cook. But instead of becoming a real housewife as many of your contemporaries did, you went contra by embracing the fantasy, instead of striving for the reality.
Roxy: Grady, surely you know that the Real Housewife franchise is not real. Darrin, was friends with a lot of them, it was largely scripted fueled of course by alcohol. We had a different vision. He was the writer I was the cook. I brought the flavor. he supplied the words
Grady: You were his muse.
Roxy: Roxy was a character we created very loosely based on me and my life.
Grady: But the similarities are hard to ignore. So, Spoiler alert if you’re new to the series and haven’t seen the “Craquelleure” episode it deals with Roxy and Jed’s break up- featuring a creme brûlée recipe that with a subtle tap of a spoon yields the most fantastic crackin’ ever! You should know, when I make your creme brûlée recipe it’s a sign that it’s over.
Roxy: I heard something about that Grady.
Grady: So, is there going to another craquellure episode, since you and Darrin are no longer in partnership. He was the writer in the duo.
Roxy: We’ve been writing partners since the beginning.
Grady: Are you worried that was part of the winning combination, the right recipe?
Roxy: Darrin was instrumental in everything. He helped me hugely. He saw me, made me more than a figment of my own imagination. We are—-we were twin flames. But I have the confidence and vision to try something on my own, to stand on my own, and make an offering that is just me.
Grady: :He wrote beautifully about your relationship in his memoir: Folie a Deux.
Roxy: He is a beautiful writer.
Grady: That’s all you wanna say?
Roxy: for now. Hey Grady, how about trying out the Tiramisu recipe?
Grady: Listeners, yesterday when we were prepping for this episode, Ms. Roxy suggested we do an audible recipe in real-time. Narrated colorfully by her of course. And I said, why not? Let’s give it a try.
Roxy: Do you know what tiramisu actually means Grady?
Grady: Pick-me-up if I’m to guess.
Roxy: Very good, do you speak Italian?
Grady: I had an Italian boyfriend once.
Roxy: Ok so this is the ultimate pick-me-up and drop me off kind of dessert. Full disclosure it requires a variety of bowls and pans, you need a pyrex style 9x13 casserole dish, a pie plate or other shallow bowl, a bowl for the mascarpone, and a bowl for the whipped cream. Lots of bowls. It’s a putsch as the Yiddishists say.
Grady: a Potsch?
Roxy: It means fussy, it’s a to-do, a dessert event.
Grady: And a chance to flex your coffee snobbery, I liked how your recipe asks for your preferred caffeine delivery system for the biscuits to soak up.
Roxy: You like that? What would you choose?
Grady: Why our sponsor of course: Splotch Cold Brew!
Insert Splotch Cold Brew Ad here:
Grady: Ok so I see your ingredients lined up nice and neatly in front of you.
Roxy: It’s all about the mise, Grady. So I have one 16oz container of mascarpone cheese.
Grady: Side point, an ex of mine once made mea killer mascarpone and cherries concoction. Mmmmm truly memorable.
Roxy: Yeah I can see you tasting the memory. Annnd that’s what I love about recipes and cooking the multi-sensualality of it.
Grady: So do you cook much with Ben?
Roxy: We get into the kitchen that’s for sure. Ok so continuing with this lovely mise scene: we have ..Israeli tea biscuits here.
Grady: Are these instead of the t Ladyfingers that are traditionally used in a Tiramisu?
Roxy: Yes I really like how they absorb the strong espresso flavor and/but still hold their shape, also ladyfingers are carby, these thin little numbers add just the right amount of cakeiness.
Grady: You are very open in your support of Israel.
Roxy: Yes I am. I am. And I’m happy to talk about it, after we get this tiramisu in the fridge.
Grady: Do you think that because your recipe changes the traditional Italian ladyfinger ingredients for Israeli tea biscuit, it can’t really be called Tiramisu?
Roxy: Yes Grady you’re right. I’ll have to change the name of the recipe to…Al-Tira-misu.
Grady: What is that like a tall tiramisu ? Alta-rimisu?
Roxy: Al tirah means don’t be afraid in Ancient Hebrew. Don’t be afraid of the calories, don’t be afraid of the fat, don’t be afraid of the flavor.
Insert: ENERGY OAT MILK AD
Roxy: Ok next? 1 cup of coffee: sometimes I do 4 shots of Espresso, sometimes an extra strong cup of drip, depends on what I have around. But whatever you choose just make sure the coffee warm or at least room temperature.
Grady: And what are the eggs for?
Roxy: they do something positively dreamy to the mascarpone, just wait, Heavy cream, vanilla, and chocolate?
Grady:Separated Eggs, which lets be honest is a chore.
Roxy: Yes, yes and here’s were you put your underlings, life partner or kids to work!
Grady: And of course 60% single origin chocolate. Love it!
Roxy: Really whatever is your favorite eating chocolate.
Grady: This is mine.
Roxy: I know Grady, I do my research too. So you put your warm to room-temp coffee in a shallow pan, something like a pie pan. At this point you have the choice to add rum or coffee flavored vodka or any liquor of your choice to the coffee. I go virgin with my desserts as a rule since Ben doesn’t drink anymore, and he is my taster
Grady: Ben takes up where Darrin left off? How does he keep his trim screen friendly physique, with you around?
Roxy: A lot of crunches, trust me. but let’s get into this quick, because God forbid the eggs will set.
Grady: Recipes and cooking are a convenient diversion for you, hmmm?
Roxy laughs, the eggs…it’s all about the eggs, Grady.
(Edit)
Next thing to do? Make the mascarpone cream. Scrape out the mascarpone in a big bowl, give it a few whirls with your spatula so that it’s loose and smooth and shivering in anticipation for the egg yolks.
So the egg yolks, it’s at this point that the cook decides whether they’re in or out. They’re weighing the advantages and disadvantages right now.
Grady: So abandon the recipe for a more traditional celebrity podcast conversation?
Roxy: let’s keep going. It’ll be worth it in about 8 hours.
Grady: Delaying gratification is an essential part of cooking.
Roxy: Ok here goes: take 4 eggs, have 2 cups in reach. I know, I know, just shove it in the dishwasher or make someone do it for you shouldn’t be hard to put on the guilt after they try some of this marvelous dessert concoction. Crack the egg and then flip the egg yolk from shell half to shell half, over the glass, to catch the slimy egg whites, and then throw the yolks in the small bowl that will be placed over a simmering pot of water, add a third to half a cup of sugar and whisk over the simmering water. And continually whisk to a soft frothy light texture, something akin to a good cappuccino foam, it will be light buttery yellow in color. Probably for about three minutes of constant whisking ( good for wrist dexterity). Darrin was big on recipes that involved wrist dexterity.
Grady: I bet he was
Roxy: Next step: whipped cream.
Grady: And yet another bowl.
Roxy: I’ll refer you to the early tip. 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 1-2 teaspoons vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar. And away we go! Whip it until lovely clods occur
Grady: clods?
Roxy: A measurement for cream, Darrin might have made it up, I think. So just whip it up, until soft beautiful mounds of fluffy pure white whipped cream occur
And Remember: It’s all about the mise. So be sure to have it all set up.
Shallow bowl of coffee, check.
Sleeve of tea biscuits, check
Casserole pan, check
Bowl of mascarpone, check
Bowl of whipped cream, check
solid bar of your favorite chocolate, check
Grater or veg peeler, check.
Grady: I’m following, keep going.
Roxy: take one biscuit at a time and do a quick dunk, front and back into the coffee. Place each dunked biscuit on the bottom of the casserole, covering the bottom but not overlapping,
Then, take half the mascarpone and spread it with a spatula, and I love any chance to use my offset spatula.
Another layer of tea biscuits, another layer of mascarpone spread out lusciously like some “unmentionable slattern”
Then if you have tea biscuits left go for another layer, if not plop on the whipped cream in clods. Like the most glorious cappuccino foam. Use it all, be abundant. Be generous. Manifest abundance and caffeine with this dessert.
Grady: When are we getting to the chocolate part?
Roxy:As Marva says “ Impatience dashed the souffle,” Grady! First make sure the top layer of cream is nice and smooth, like that. As effortless and abundant as a cream cheese smear on a bagel.
Grady: Heavy on the je ne sais quoi
Roxy:Oui and heavy on the chocolate! Take your vegetable peeler, or if you’re grater and proceed blanket the top of the concoction with chocolate curls or shavings. Go nuts! Make it rain.
Grady: et le voila! And into the. le fridge it goes? For how long
Roxy: At least 4 hours, which means this should be ready in time for dinner tonight.
Grady: Am I invited? If I leave no I probably could get to dinner with you and Ben by dessert.
Roxy: The invitation is wide open Grady.
Grady: For now I, and the rest of us, will have to do with the audial experience.
Roxy: A recipe in conversation. A very stimulating conversation.
Grady: Thanks to Cafe Splotch Espresso!
