From Professional Kitchens to Family Tables - Chef Gavin Kaysan Interview and his book "At Home"

 In this episode of Food for Body, Mind and Spirit, we are delighted to welcome two-time James Beard Award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen and founding Mentor and President of Team USA in the biannual Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyon, France. Celebrated for his acclaimed restaurants including Spoon and Stable and Demi, Chef Gavin has built a stellar reputation. He known both for exceptional fine dining, but also for his deep commitment to mentorship, and bringing professional techniques into everyday home cooking. See his recently published book "At Home" available through Amazon.

Visit the Gloria Goodtaste's website to view the full stories and available recipes highlighted in this podcast with pictures and additional info to further enjoy this episode.  Go to: https://www.gloriagoodtaste.com

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hi everyone and welcome back to Foods for Body, Mind, and Spirit. I'm your host, Gloria Goodkate.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

And I'm the co-host and this program. Gloria, we really have a special show today.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

We really do. We are exploring a topic that we feel passionate about. How food can go from a broken to a family table. We are so fortunate to have two.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

That's right. We were lucky enough to make it recently at Charlie Catter's benefit. What a special night that was. We talk about a restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Today we're going to do several recipes of it. We've tested them all.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

No. Let's do the interview first. We're on the telephone with Chef Kevin.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

I am so thrilled to be able to be talking to you today.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Oh, thank you. I'm thrilled to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Thank you. Let's first start by letting our listeners know about how your culinary journey actually began and developed. Give us a short version.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Yeah, yeah. So the short version is I grew up in I grew up uh just outside of Minneapolis. Uh and at the young age of 15, my mom said, Go get a job, and as one does, I went to the nearest food service outlet I could find, and it happened to be a subway. And I was working there, and there was a gentleman who moved in next door, was opening up an Italian restaurant, and somehow caught caught uh caught his eye in what I was doing at that s sandwich shop and just talking to the guest and and and making the sandwiches, and he says, Maybe you have a knack for this. Why don't you come work for me? And as they say, the rest is history, but what what it really was that he saw uh, as he tells me later in my life, was just sort of this uh intentionality towards the profession, intentionality towards hospitality that drew him uh to wanting to teach me and train me. And so I worked for him for a couple years and then went to culinary school and started to work my way around the world.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Right. And I understand that you went and actually were in different places in Europe, right?

SPEAKER_03 3:28

Yes. So when I was twenty uh twenty let's see, how old was I? Twenty-one, I believe. I moved over to Switzerland and was working in Lausanne, Switzerland at the time. Uh my father was there doing business quite often, so he had found some restaurants that he was he was keen on it, so I I I went over there and worked, and I found found myself in Switzerland, and then shortly thereafter I was in London, um, spent a little bit of brief time in in Sweden, which is where my wife is from, uh, then moved back to the to the United States.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Right. Well, you have a lot of experience, I can see that. Why don't you introduce us a little bit to your restaurants or culinary establishments so people know where you are and what you do?

SPEAKER_03 4:12

Sure. So I'm in Minneapolis. Uh I have five restaurants here. Uh in those five restaurants, uh, we have a bakery uh as well, but uh I also have a restaurant in Naples, Florida, where we partnered with the Four Seasons uh down in Naples. So primarily the restaurants are everything from a French bistro and bakery uh to an upscale fine dining 20-seat intimate space that's open five nights a week. And then the flagship, which is Spoon and Stable, uh that's been around for almost 12 years now, I would consider an American brasserie.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Uh-huh. And so you've been on into a lot of things. Have you been into the bakeries also?

SPEAKER_03 4:52

Yeah, so you know, when I spent time when I spent time over in Europe, I mean I I I was actually in the pastry kitchen for quite some time. Um, you know, in my bakeries here, uh, there one is just a bakery and a cafe that's opened up during the day, and then the other one is a bakery and cafe during the day, and then we flip it and open it up into a French bistro at night. Small 50 seats, uh very intimate. So um, but I I I love I just what I love about bakeries and what I love about cafes is is how they integrate themselves within the neighborhood.

unknown 5:22

Right? I think that that's just so important. Uh it's one of the reasons why we build what we build. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

To be around the neighborhood and to and to service them uh as best as we can. So, you know, I've I've noticed that with our bakeries. They've done a really good job uh of of doing that and servicing them. We've had them for years. So yeah, it's great.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Well, you know, many chefs write cookbooks about their restaurants and how fancy the gourmet cooking is in the restaurants. But you decided to write a book about cooking in your own kitchen at home. Why did you make that decision?

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Well, you know, it's funny, that that book was um a result of a couple things.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

One, it was a result of COVID. So actually the reason that that book came about was um during COVID, I needed to find a way to make payroll. Um as everything was shut down so abruptly, and I was trying to find ways to keep as many of my staff on as I could without without breaking the bank. And one of my one of my team members said, Chef, you know, why don't we why don't we do a class? You know, you you you're outgoing, like why don't we do like a Zoom class for one hour and we'll go on at six o'clock on a Thursday and by seven p.m. dinner's ready for everybody. I said, Surely that sounds like a good idea. And so what happened was is we did 60 of those classes, and I'll bore you a bunch of the details, but the first class we had about 130 people on that Zoom call, which I thought was quite exciting. But by the third and fourth class, we were seeing that number tick up towards a thousand, fifteen hundred, two thousand people joining that call, that Zoom class from all over the country. And so then we started to give them specific instructions on what to buy and where to buy it. If you were local, you could come and buy the the quote unquote the kit for the class from us. Um and there was all this sort of opportunity to be a part of it. And and what we ended up realizing was is that we got done with it, and we had tested all of these recipes on home cooks, um, and it and it worked. And so we then took all that information uh and thought the next best thing to do was to create a cookbook out of it, which we then self-published, which is now the book at home. And you know, I'll tell you something. I think the reason why it inspired me to do a book that was more for the home versus more for the profession is that when I got into this profession, I got into it because I was a home cook with my grandmother, not because I got into it with you know cooking in professional kitchens. I loved the idea of taking care of other people, cooking for other people, you know, servicing them. When you put them all around the table, you know, it doesn't really matter what's going on. Everybody kind of just sits there and eats and enjoys. And I love that part of it.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

So, you know, that's really why I created the first book at home.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Now we noticed a bulldog on the book spine. Is that okay? Is he part of the publishing team?

SPEAKER_02 8:14

So that's that's my French Bulldog Rosie. So somebody drew up that that bulldog, and so that became the logo.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

I I love that. I thought that was just so cute. Okay. Well, well, your book at home mentions a lot of of about Grandma Dorothy many, many times. And can you tell us what type of cooking and baking she did?

SPEAKER_03 8:41

Yeah, she was a very simple home cook, you know, chicken and dumplings, pot roast, um, delicious home cookies. Um, you know, all of her recipes, like many recipes in that era, were written on index cards or clipped out from pit from newspapers and then stapled or taped to an index card. Um, you know, lots of lard and things like that, ingredients that maybe we can't use as much anymore today. Um, but she was just a very simple home cook, and what what gave her the most joy is what continued to give me a lot of joy, which is making people happy around a table with food.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Uh-huh. Can you tell the listeners a little bit about the recipe called Sunbuckle Cookies and uh how you started making them?

SPEAKER_03 9:23

Yeah, so that that was a cookie that that she was um famous for within our family. Um and we didn't even have a really a flat table at the time to roll out the cookie dough, so we roll it out on an irony board, which is still to this day I think back. I'm like, I'm not sure that was any easier, but certainly it was part of the experience. Um you know, you put it in a little tin jar and you bake it, and it has a lot of butter in it, uh, but it just has to be the right amount of butter with the right amount of of of um of heat and yep. And then, you know, you sort of have this like little crevice and you fill with sprinkles, and as a kid we would fill with vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream or something like that, but certainly uh it brings back a lot of nostalgia, a lot of memories.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Well, I see that your cookbook features lots of recipes that any home cook can really prepare for their family. What are several of the favorite recipes in this book that you would say to start with?

SPEAKER_03 10:21

You know, for breakfast I do the Swedish pancakes or the cottage cakes. I do those often for my family, and I love that. It's a very simple recipe. Um, you know, it's something that you can do quick. It's not a it's not a lot of cleanup, which I think is also an important part of the book. Um the other one that I do often is the braised chicken. It's the one with the apple and the fennel. It's the thick the the roasted chicken size. I love that dish. I cook that so often. The paella is a dish that my family often requires to have at least once or twice a month. Um, you know, so I find myself making that. Again, it's sort of a one-pan recipe, so easy on the cleanup, easy on the prep. Um, you know, I like to be able to do things that are quick, uh, but I like to be able to do things that that are also just super delicious, and those are all recipes that have a lot of depth of flavor.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Now, how did you decide on the format of the book? Because I think the thing that's really creative about your book is that you not only present the recipe, but you actually show pictures of each section. Was that because you were showing it on the uh videos that you had before?

SPEAKER_03 11:28

Yeah, so those are actually still shots of the video, believe it or not. So when we went through, we had all of this video and all this content, and we said, well, let's just take out some of these still shots, because I think there are certain parts of any recipe, you know, for any type of cook that it's like you need to see it, you know. And and and this was something that was really important when we pre when we created this book, was we wanted people to we wanted people to use it and we wanted it to actually work. And I will say I think that's the number one thing that I hear the most from people when they come into the restaurants and they say, Oh, I bought your book, I cook with it all the time, and by the way, all the recipes work. And I and it's like it's it's a I know that seems so crazy to say out loud and think like, does that often h not happen? And it and it it's often that it doesn't happen because you know, as a chef, you know, we put together these recipes and it's and so much of it is very intuitive. But I had a great team at the time that's like, hey, okay, you're putting it in the oven, what's the temperature?

unknown 12:20

How long until the until it's done?

SPEAKER_03 12:22

When did you season it? What sort of acid did you add there? Why did you add that vinegar? Why did you add that lemon juice?

unknown 12:27

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

And really give people the idea of like, this is what it's like to be in my kitchen with me.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

Uh-huh. Well, I I think the format's really great. I I really like the recipe where you show how to use the parchment paper because a lot of people have no idea how to wrap something in parchment paper. I think that it's really helpful. So uh what are some of the like top cooking tips for home cooks that you might give us?

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Well, I think a lot of it is ingredient-based. You know, I mean, number one, not ingredient-based, have a sharp knife. That's very odd. Number two, ingredient-based, I would say, you know, like sp spend the money on a great olive oil or spend the money on great butter, spend the money on great salt. Um, you know, what differentiates, say, home cooks from professional cooks often is how much vinegar andor acid that we use in our s in our in our food.

unknown 13:25

That's that's where to brighten things up.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

And I think that, you know, as growing up with my grandmother, vinegar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, you know, it was never really used to sort of spice, it was never used to like brighten the dish up.

unknown 13:39

It was always used for other things.

SPEAKER_03 13:42

Um, and so, you know, there's so much accessibility for us to be able to get. And the other thing I would encourage people to do when they're cooking at home is that there are some things you can buy that are better made for you than it is that you can make sometimes at home in terms of, especially when you compare the time it takes, say, for example, a kofi tomato or some sort of red bell pepper soux or jardnera or pickled vegetables. Not to say that you can't do that at home, you certainly can. But there are there are products out there that are exceptional and worth exploring and finding and testing out because it's something that you can always kind of keep in your fridge and have part of your repertoire to sort of finish a sauce or finish a dish with or you know, brighten this up or brighten that up, and and you kind of you know start to learn those little things and just have those little secrets uh in your fridge, and they'll help so much uh as a home cook.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Okay, well, I think we're ready for that. All right. Now, I was also wondering, you have children, right? And uh what are your secrets to helping children enjoy cooking and trying new foods? I know they sometimes don't want to try the new foods.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Yeah, well, you know, I mean that continues to be a challenge. I mean, I mean my oldest is 16 and uh he he tends to be a good eater, but it's taken time.

unknown 14:56

You know, I think if any I think if anything I've learned in feeding the my ages, my kids are four to sixteen, so I have a big gap between them all.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

I have three boys, but you know, for me the biggest the biggest difference between um feeding them and seeing what they like and what they don't like is really it's just like they they want to explore on their own too. They want to see what they like, they want to understand it. Um, you know, their inquisitive minds, they're curious minds, just like all of us. And so, you know, my my best piece of advice is like don't get mad if they don't like something. Let them try it again a different way at another time. You know, it's not the end of the world if they don't like that aspiring us on day one. I'm not sure every I'm not sure anybody was like, oh, this is the best thing in the world when they were eight years old.

unknown 15:36

Um just give it some patience and and and keep trying things.

SPEAKER_03 15:40

The other thing that that I would encourage people to do, and I did this, especially with my 16-year-old, is I'd bring them to the markets with me. And so we would go to the farmers' markets together, or we would go see farmers together, and he would understand and see where the vegetables were coming from, and he would get to experience what the farmer's hands looked like after picking those green beans out, you know, of the ground and seeing how how the dirt was in his nails, and and and understanding and giving himself both a familiarity but an enormous amount of understanding and respect for what it is that's coming to him at his refrigerator, and it's not just coming out of a grocery store down the street.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Mm-hmm. Now, I know that you've won many awards, Michelin Stars, James Spear Honors, and even represented the U.S. at the Beaucustear. Can you tell us a little bit about your experience in this world-class culinary event?

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Yeah, it's exceptional. I mean, it's you know, it's an event that is it's every two years. It's held in Lyon, France. I've had the pleasure of representing Team USA in 2007 to coaching the first team to ever hit the podium in 2015 to now being the president of the team and and helping run that from start to finish.

unknown 16:48

Um It is uh something that holds on to the to the integrity of our craft.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

It holds on to the history of what it means to be a chef today. Uh it really puts an emphasis on why we are where we are today, standing on those shoulders ahead of us and what that means. And it's about perfectionism, it's about discipline, it's about focus. Um, you know, it's it's no different than training a very, very high-class world athlete and you know, realizing that they have five hours and thirty minutes to create an exceptional amount of food that, you know, within minutes will be deemed the best in the world or not. That's a lot of pressure. I mean, it's no different. I often say it's no different than the Olympics. I mean, you look at Lindsay Vaughn, who's a Minnesota native, and you know, how often does she train doing what she's doing for downhill skiing, and yet here we are, and we watch 35 seconds of it, you know, or a minute and 30 seconds of it, and you just think to yourself, got four years of work for that minute and a half. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

Uh-huh. Well, I know that people don't really realize too much about what the event is or how hard it was. There was a time when we did not have any winning medals, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:00

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

And what what happened after that?

SPEAKER_03 18:05

So, you know, 2007 when I competed, we we we did not win. Uh we didn't even place and for for years, and the competition has started as begun as began in 1987. So for years we had not stood on the podium, and and really we created an organization called Mentor, uh, which was created by Danielle Balun and Thomas Keller, Jerome Bocuse, and myself, and that was created in 2008. Um that organization is meant to really do two things, primarily. One is training US basics cooking competition, and secondly is to grant scholarship money to young cooks around the country uh who would otherwise not really understand or see how to position themselves in some in some of these really famous, amazing kitchens. Uh and and and you know the reason for all of that for us is because we want to be able to help the next generation and see the uh possibilities that are out there. And it doesn't always mean you have to be in New York City, LA, Chicago, and these big cities. It could simply be a restaurant around your block, but you would have no idea if that if we don't get out there and and and and help you see it. Uh and then more importantly, help you get into that kitchen. So Mentor is really the organization that turned it all around for us.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

So a young chef aspiring to follow your footsteps, what would they do? How could they prepare for this kind of competition?

SPEAKER_02 19:28

You know, it's a great question.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

I um I think that the biggest thing that they can consistently do out there is making sure that they are always staying curious as to what's next. I think often what happens in our profession is that people have a sense of curiosity until they hit a certain level of success, and then they think that that curiosity needs to go away.

unknown 19:53

Some of the most successful successful chefs I've ever worked for have never let curiosity leave their their daily repertoire.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

But that's really, really important.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Well, I know that you are known as a talent developer and you support a lot of initiatives for pro-athletic meals and initiative. A little Little Bertie told me that in fact you're doing one on the ninth. Okay. Okay, can you explain what the impact of membership uh uh mentorship is?

SPEAKER_03 20:28

You know, mentorship is a really important part of our business. It's something that I think gets often overlooked. Um I think it's something that that people see as a transactional experience when in fact it's not even close to being a transactional experience. Um, what it's about more than anything else is again making what is the next generation better than you, making the next giving the next generation opportunities that maybe you didn't have. Um I mean, very simply put, like look at the sports world. You know, it's like what was a basketball player paid in 1960 versus what's a basketball player player paid now? You know, I'm not saying that it's about money, but the amount of the amount of opportunity that they have, all of that opportunity had to come from a group of people, individually and otherwise in groups, prior to that person being there to help them mentor them to get them to that position. And and that that really is what it's all about. I mean, look, I I love doing what I do. I love being able to service the guests, I love being able to cook with the team, I love being able to see what that's all about. But in many respects, I mean there's no there's no greater joy than seeing your mentees go off and create success and understanding that their success was because they were part of your your your world and your environment, and they took things away from that that really inspired them to do what it is that they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Now, how can the actual general public support Well I know that um we met you at Charlie Trotter's mentor dinner several weeks ago. And did you have any connection with Charlie Trotter? That is wonderful, isn't it? What a great thing. That connection is just gives me chills. I have one extra special question to ask you. Okay. We hope that, you know, you're going to be sharing lots of new adventures. Do you what do you have planned for the future?

SPEAKER_03 23:52

Well, we we continue to want to find ways to grow and evolve. Sometimes that doesn't always mean by necessarily adding more restaurants or bakeries, but you know, sometimes it's just looking in the mirror and saying, how do we continue to evolve and grow what it is we're doing? Which that's part of it. But certainly we want to continue to grow and find different ways to open more places as we as we develop.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Well, we want to thank you for spending the time with us and giving us little hints of information that are so valuable. I know how busy you really are.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Oh, it was my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 24:30

Okay. Wow, that was such a good conversation. I loved hearing how Charlie Trotter encouraged him as a young chef with those handwritten notes.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

I love that part too. His mentorship piece really shines through. Okay, now let's get to the recipes. We've been cooking up a storm. Which one should we start with?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Well, let's get started with a real family classic. Chef Gavin's perfect pot roast.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

His grandmother's read Dorothy's recipe, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Yes. And it was one of the first dishes he ever cooked as a kid. He says every time he makes it, it feels like a warm hug from his grandmother. It became the first dish he put on the menu at Spoon and Stable 2, and we tried it with kale and squash salad. That was so bountiful and so well balanced that way.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

That salad is really brilliant. Tell them about the textures and flavor layers.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

It really is. You get crispy roasted kale chips mixed with tender wrought kale. I bet you never tried doing that.

SPEAKER_04 25:49

Nope.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

But it's a super thing to do. And then you just add warm spiced acorn squash, crunchy almonds, and a tangy buttermilk vinaigrette. The contrast with the comforting pot roast, wow, that's so good.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

I love how the low oven temperature makes these crispy kale chips. It's a real game changer.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Now let's turn it around and let's look for a quicker weeknight option. That's always a problem, you know. What can you make after work really pretty quick and still be a really great dinner? Well, we really enjoy the crispy chicken thighs with roasted fall vegetables.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

45 minutes, right? That's weeknight realistic.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

You toast fennel and red pepper flakes for the chicken. Now you say, Oh my, that's an extra step, but that step is really important. And it's not hard putting them in the pan and fluffing them around. And then what I did is I put them into a coffee grinder, and that made it really easy to do because then all you do is grind them right up with that. Of course, as he suggested, you can crush them with something like a big pan, too. After that, just roast everything together: apples, squash, and shallots. It's super adaptable too, because we swapped some of the vegetables and it still turned out great.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Don't skip toasting those spices. Chef was right. It really makes a huge difference.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

Now, for summer, Tech Tom, you especially liked the next one, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Right, the summer risotto. You know how I really enjoy risotto. That corn stock trick is so smart. I love the sweet corn, the peas, and the summer squash. It takes tastes like a peak summer season in a ball.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

It does. And it really is hardy enough for a main course. Chef said the leftovers are make amazing aromacini, too.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

For those of you wondering what is aromacini, it's a Sicilian-Italian street food. It is risotto rolled into a ball, stuffed with cheese, breaded, and deep fried. When you first bite into the Arancini, the first comes the crisp outer layer, followed by the creamy risotto, and finally you'll get to the melted cheese. Oh wow! How delicious can that be?

SPEAKER_01 28:40

I do love the outside with the crispiness, and then after you get to the crispiness, you don't really expect that, right? That creamy inside when you get to that, and it just melts in your mouth. Everyone is so surprised when you make them, and you actually didn't do that with the leftovers. I just I mean, that's just phenomenal. All right. They're so much fun. All right. And we need to tell them about a breakfast, something that they would really love. Now, breakfast lovers, put your ears on and listen to this one because you're going to really like trying this recipe because it's called cottage cakes.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

They are so much fun. Glory, tell them about the cheese pulls.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Oh, yes. They're fully buttermilk pancakes with pockets of melted cottage cheese inside. Surprise, surprise, extra protein makes those stretchy cheese pulls that kids just go crazy for. And we've already made them multiple times.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

They freeze really well, and they can be ready in a minute for those early risers.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

And finally, something sweet. Sunbuckles.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

They are little cup-shaped cookies, and we make them with tiny little brioche cups.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

I know. And you know, that doesn't make it really hard to make at all. Let me just give you a real quick, let's go through the recipe. Only five ingredients, can you believe that?

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Nope.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

All in one pot, kind of a pan or bowl or whatever you have there. Alright. You just mix it all up together, put it in the refrigerator so it gets cold enough so that you can make little balls with it. Then you make the little balls with them, put them inside of the little brioche cups, and with your thumb push down so you have it on the bottom, and then the dough goes up the side slightly, like you're making a shell.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

I was the oven watcher, and things didn't look right. The bottoms came up to the top and was a level cookie. It wasn't supposed to be like this. So I panicked. I panicked and helped.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

Yes, I remember that. Okay. When I came in, I looked and they looked all flat, and I thought, oh, this recipe doesn't work. But guess what, folks? It does work because within the next couple of minutes, the little edges kind of came up. All right. And then when you take them out of the oven, you just need to let them cool for about what, 10 minutes? And then after 10 minutes, what do you do with them, Tom?

SPEAKER_00 31:44

Turn the brioche cups over and you bang them on the table.

SPEAKER_01 31:47

I know.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

And it may take one or two extra bangs, but they'll come out.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

I know.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

And don't be easy on them. You gotta hit them hard.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

It was such fun making those. But you you're gonna have to buy these little brioche cups. You might not have them in your house, but it's a great investment because you can also make rolls and other things in those same little cups that you get. But it gives you a little shape. Not only that, but the recipe looks real fancy, like you did something really great when all you did is bang them out of their little cups, alright? And you can actually the bottom you can put a little jelly in if you wanted, or a little filling in the bottom, but guess what? It doesn't need anything, they're almost like butter cookies, they melt in your mouth. And this was Grandma Dorothy's cookie recipes that we tested. It came from her. Alright, the family used to fill them with ice cream at Christmas, and they they are just so crispy on the edges, soft in the middle, full of buttery flavor. We made them for a summer gathering recently, and guess what? They disappeared really fast.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Hey cooks, here's the secret: simple ingredients, but they make them feel really special.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

Yes, that's the beauty of Chef Kaysen's cooking style.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

We want to thank you with a big thank you to Chef Gavin Kaysen for the wonderful interview and for sharing these recipes with us. If you want to add easy special touches to your home recipe, you can purchase his book at At Home through Amazon.

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We hope this episode inspires you to bring a little pro technique and a lot of love to your own family table. Try one this week and tag us on social media with always put a little good taste in your life.