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Hi there, exciting show for you this week. Melissa Clark, one of the most prolific cookbook writers of the modern era, joins us. Read on!

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Episode 146: Melissa Clark

This week, Melissa Clark joins us to #TalkCookbooks!

When we launched Salt + Spine, I wrote a short list of our dream guests — the cookbook authors who, at the time, I felt were pushing the industry in new directions or had a wealth of experience to learn from. We’ve been lucky to sit down with many folks from that list (from Samin Nosrat to Julia Turshen to Vivian Howard…). Today, we’re marking one more off that list as Melissa joins us in-studio to discuss her latest cookbook, Dinner in One.

Dubbed the “gold standard for Internet recipe writing” by Eater, Melissa Clark has been developing recipes for over a decade at The New York Times, where she started with a short sidebar on home cooking questions before joining as a columnist and reporter. (A recent search on NYT Cooking showed her byline attached to some 1,391 results!)

That early NYT series Melissa authored, called “Food Chain,” offered helpful tips and answers to cooking challenges in the era before such information was one keystroke away. Today, her NYT column, “A Good Appetite,” features everything from a reinvented crab dip to her best Instant Pot recipes.

And all the while, Melissa’s written 45 cookbooks! She’s collaborated on books with chefs like Daniel Boulud, David Bouley, and Claudia Fleming. Her 2017 home-cooking tome, Dinner: Changing the Game, features more than 200 recipes for inventive, interesting meals. She’s following it up with her latest work, Dinner in One, which features recipes that use just “one” vessel—one sauté pan, one sheet tray, one pot, etc.

In this week’s show, we’re talking with Melissa about growing up with food-loving parents who immersed her in French food and culture at an early age … how she landed at the NYT, even though she turned down their first job offer … and how dining out is critical to her recipe development process. And, of course, we’re putting her to the test in our signature culinary game.

Bonus Content + Recipes This Week

This week, paid subscribers will receive two featured recipes from Melissa's Dinner in One: the Roasted Cauliflower and Potatoes with Harissa, Yogurt, and Toasted Almonds and her Ricotta Olive Oil Pound Cake.

Salt + Spine is supported by listeners like you. To get full access to our exclusive content and featured recipes, and support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Coming Up…

* Attention Bay Area fans: Our fifth-annual Cookie Swap is coming up on Sunday, Dec. 11 featuring oodles of cookies and demos from yours truly, Kristina Cho, and more! The cookie swap is sold out, but you can join the waitlist here!

* This week’s episode with Melissa Clark is the last “regular” episode of the year—but we’ve got something really exciting in store for December. Stay tuned for more details!