Pantry Raid Hannah Messinger

As we enter that time of year when gardens and farms sometimes give us more than we bargained for, Hannah discusses the strategy, mindset and creativity it takes to tackle a surplus.

We hear from special guest Bianca Morton, the Chef Director of The Nashville Food Project. Bianca is a Nashville native and one of the people who has been behind the scenes for years and years making Nashville's culinary heart tick. She tells us a story about a surplus worst-case-scenario- receiving an entire truckload of a vegetable she doesn't like to eat- and how she conquered it. If you live in Nashville and would like to give time, money or food to The Nashville Food Project, check out https://www.thenashvillefoodproject.org/givetime .

Stock and broth are the backbone of reduced waste cooking. In the most efficient kitchens, they're made from the scraps of other recipes saved dutifully in a container in the freezer. Stock or broth can be used in so many ways to improve a wide array of dishes, but there's so much confusion surrounding the difference between the two, it's ridiculous!

This episode starts out with very proper and technical description of stock and broth from ramen kween and Hannah's former boss, Sarah Gavigan, author of "Ramen Otaku, Mastering Ramen at Home." She tells us how she makes the base for ramen at her restaurant Otaku Ramen here in Nashville and gives us some insight into which cooking vessels we should use (and not use) in order to make the best possible stock at home.

Then, in typical Pantry Raid fashion, Hannah dials it back with her lazy home cook's perspective on the subject. She answers listener questions about stock and broth, reads some very no-nonsense wisdom from old cookbooks and makes terrible jokes about corn risotto. 

You just can't go wrong with chickpeas! Knowing when to use dried chickpeas, canned chickpeas or chickpea flour is key, but having any one of those things on hand will get you at least halfway to dinner.

Hannah discusses her newfound obsession with falafel*, plus special guest Bryan Lee Weaver, chef at Butcher & Bee, shares his recipe and tricks for making the creamiest hummus.

And! Hannah's new friend Louisa Shafia, author of "The New Persian Kitchen," talks about fragrant Persian desserts made with chickpea flour. 

*Update, four months later: when we say "obsession," we mean Hannah has made falafel every single week since before this episode aired and is not remotely tired of it. 

Stale bread is simply the best and cheapest way to bulk out any recipe, to save a salad from being too "healthy" and to add texture to anything quite delicate.

Hannah talks, okay rants, about how stale bread can work wonders for your cooking when sliced, cubed, or in crumb form. She shares her lazy person way of making french toast for a crowd, her lazy person way of making pie without pastry and her lazy person way of making mac & cheese. What can we say? She's a lazy person and you should be too. Let stale bread do most of the work on your behalf.

Hannah explores her favorite citrus — the Meyer lemon — and what to do with it raw, cooked, and preserved. Within those three categories, you'll hear simple and inspired cooking ideas, a lot of love for lemon zest, and one lemon joke.

This week, Hannah recommends the Pok Pok cookbook.

This episode is sponsored by Camellia Fiber Company. Thanks! To have your cooking questions answered, play the Pantry Raid game with  Hannah on Mondays. Each week, she answers your questions through her  Instagram story @hmmessinger.

Hannah has befriended a cheesemonger, and together they have dozens of great ideas to share about cooking with cheese. Kathleen Cotter (The Bloomy Rind) shared her expertise for making better mac 'n' cheese, explains the benefits of homemade ricotta, and argues that cheese can be — and should be — treated like a main dish.

To have your cooking questions answered, play the Pantry Raid game with Hannah on Mondays. Each week, she answers your questions through her Instagram story @hmmessinger.