Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Donna Hay is a bona fide culinary legend, known of
course for her fresh and vibrant ingredient choices, her beautiful
but minimalistic approach to food styling, and recipes that are
grounded in reality for those of us, myself included, who
are busy but still want to eat well. So if
you like the sound of one pan undone lasagna, crunchy
(00:33):
Chipotle chicken tray bake, and sticky pork belly that's tasty
and big on golden crunch, then Donna's new book, Too Easy,
is going to be a bit of you. And Dona
Hay is with us live this morning. Kilda, Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Thanks Jack, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
It's so good to be speaking with you. I know
so many of our listeners are really excited. I'm just
going to start with a big question. Where does the
inspo come from? Is it you? Is it the publisher?
Is someone saying, Donna, can you write a book about this?
Or do you automatically know when you're publishing something new
the kind of themes that you want to extol through recipes?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
I wish it was that easy. It's kind of a
combination of all of it. You know, I'm a busy
working mom. I have friends who are asking me questions
all the time, and then of course my publisher is involved.
But you know, as you mentioned in your intro, the
one pan underne Lasagna, I realized I hadn't cooked my
children lasagna for a very very long time, because even
(01:33):
on the weekend, Jack, I am not coming home and
layering up that deliciousness and taking two hours out of
my life for it to be consumed by very hungry
boys in a marri of minutes. So I kind of
look at things that I want to redo or is
there a quicker way to do this while getting all
the you know, the gorgeous layers and the younginness of lasagna,
(01:55):
And how can I reinvent mac and cheese? Is there
a better way to do this? I cannot stand at
the stove making cheese sauce for my beautiful son who
is addicted to mac and cheese anymore. So, you know,
it's just I guess it's I guess it's just life
that kind of dictates what I'm going to try and
twist and turn into a great recipe.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, see, that's I think there's the term right there,
twist and turn right because you you it seems to
me for the way that you look at things as
you are often reimagining right, so you're often tweaking and
certainly and too easy. That's the kind of approach you've taken.
You've you've found ways that are like really not convenience
food necessarily, but stuff that would take a bit longer
(02:36):
for you know, like if you're going to spen two
hours cooking at lasagna and actually there might be an
easy way to do things.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, And I think you can find those shortcuts.
And and you said, I'm not in to process food,
but I think there are some things that you can
definitely keep in your pantry that just punch above their weights.
You know, things that you might only use like was
sabi paste for example. You know you think, oh, yeah,
we just have that with sushi. Well, actually, when you
(03:02):
add it to a dressing or a marinade, it adds
that extra zing and it doesn't have to blow your
head off like you know me, soa paste, you know,
that adds just this extra layer to things, and it's
not just a single layer, like a salty soy or something.
It's it's a lot more so I think by you know,
discovering those kind of flavors again and adding them to
(03:24):
things that you wouldn't expect, like dressings and marinades. I
think it's the key to kind of that that shortcut
we're all looking for.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
How do you like to shop for ingredients?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Look, I always hit the fresh produce section first, and
I kind of go from there because I am more
inspired by fresh produce. I think a lot of people
decide what's for dinner by saying, Hey, you're gonna have chicken,
But I like to kind of hit the fresh produce section.
And you know, there was just crazy, great, really white,
(04:01):
fantastic looking coliflower the other day. So I'm the kind
of person that passed that in my trolley and we
either make recipes with it when we get to the studio,
or I come home and I get on my own website, luckily,
and I kind of go from there because I think,
you know, when food is so expensive, if you can
just buy things that are in season, because in season
(04:23):
means that it's a lot more inexpensive to buy, and
you go from there. I think it's a really smart
way to start your cooking.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, And actually that's like a critical point right especially
right now. I think everyone in Australia and New Zealand
and many parts of the world is kind of feeling
the pinch at the moment. So do you have other
tips outside outside of cooking seat you know, using seasonal
ingredients for trying to have delicious meals but on a
pretty good budget.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
You know, I would always say to start with the
veg first. And I know this horrifies some people, but
if you replace a couple of meals with veg instead
of always going for a slab of chicken or beef
or whatever you're buying in the kind of meat aisle,
you can really save a lot of money. And I
love eating veg dishes, so I think, you know, I
(05:16):
think they should stand up to converting meat eater is over.
So I always make them full of flavor and you know,
really textured and crunchy. They're not insipid and just you know,
not satisfying. I think the keys are really good vedged recipes.
You eat it and you go, oh my goodness, this
is so full of young Yeah, like with the cauliflower
I coated it. It's in the book. I don't think
(05:37):
I still stuck to script because I didn't have a
book at home. I gave it away on the way home,
which is so me. But it's it was a tiny
little bit of honey, smoky pepika coating that then you
crisp up on the outside of the couliflower and so addictive.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, I mean that's beautiful a and yeah, it's kind
of a it's a relatively simple combination, but there's such
a richness in that day, especially with the type.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, and then the tainani makes such a great crust
on the outside of the cauliflower, so they've got this
beautiful brown crunch on the outside, and then you know,
the softer couliflower on the inside.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah. Do you boys cook?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You know, there's a funny thing about boys is that
they will cook when they're starving, which in my case,
in my house, as you can imagine, Jack, there's always
someone starving to death. Of course, of course, yeah, they will.
They will. We've got a bit of an age range.
The little ones will cook with me. The big ones
cook when they're starving.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Right, So they're like they're very much like cooking for
sustenance rather than pleasure at the moment.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, I'm the week, and sometimes I see them with
a little bit more time. They're making something elaborate. But
I think as rebellious children, they wouldn't follow one of
my recipes yet. Yeah, unless they're baking like they want to.
They want to impress me. So they're usually making up
some concoction of their own.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Oh that's good though, So they're creative.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
About it, Yeah they are. They definitely are we.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I mean, successfully creative if they're cooking up a concoin.
I remember the meals that I made my appearance as
a kid, and I don't think they were They were
necessarily leaping to try them.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
You know, let's just say, Jack, they're probably somewhere between
there and and edible, but they're eating them.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, so's that's something. What inspires you
today compared to say, teen or fifteen years ago.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
Oh that's a really good question. I think maybe there's
more environmental impacts and other impacts just in the background
that I don't spook about.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Interesting, tell us more about that.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah, Well, we just touched on the veggio recipes, right,
So not everyone in my house is happy to eat veg.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I have big six foot three, you know, teenage boys,
so they're like, what, I'm not doing that? So I think,
you know, there's a a lot to be said about
our food chain and where it comes from without getting
down that wormhole. But you know, I really try and
deliver recipes that maybe just have a little less chicken
(08:19):
breast than were sort of have somehow got used to eating.
So I'm mindful of the guidelines. Is okay, we need
this much steak or chicken and stuff. So I kind
of do that in the background, but I don't just
leave things out. I will add something else in to
make that feel like a really satisfying meal. But I don't,
(08:39):
you know, it's I've kind of feel like you've touched
on something. I kind of feel like it's my responsibility
to be, you know, to be a little bit more
mindful of those things. It's not just cost of living,
it's health and what habits have we fallen into. You know,
how big is that chicken breastack? Should you be eating
the whole thing or is it not? On our dietary guidelines?
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah, And I think you're totally right. We have kind
of maybe just slip into a bit of a place
where a lot of us think you have to have
meat with if we dinner, and actually there are many
parts of the world where you know, you might only
have meat once a week if you're lucky.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah, And we have fallen into that marketing of you know,
there's only protein in meat, and there's only all the
proteins in meat, and it was just marketing that should
have been stopped a long time ago.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Mmmmmm No, I totally agree. That's really interesting. Ear fries
so and too easy. You have included some ear fryer options.
How do you feel about ear fries?
Speaker 3 (09:38):
O'kay? So my boys would come to me with their
phones because I have older boys social media, going Mum,
can we cook this well social media? I'd be like, no,
and that looks like it came. That's disgusting, Look like, no,
we're not buying an air fry. We're not buying. So
resisted for so long, and then we were just chatting
(09:59):
in the office and I was like, Okay, why don't
we just buy one and see what the hype is about,
because you know the stats we got that every doing
three households in America on an air fryer. You know,
we were just being inundated with these stats. So I
was like, Okay, we're gonna buy one. We're gonna buy one,
We're gonna jump in. We're gonna be those people. And
as much as I would never throw a whole chicken
(10:19):
in my air fry I'm just not that person. I
have a perfectly good oven jack in a roasting pan,
you know, and I do love the process of cooking,
so I'm not about to stick something in a drawer
and hope for the best. So what we did find
is that adding super crunch to things and a little
bit of speed, that you could make some things that
(10:41):
were really great. I don't think it's necessarily big chunks
of protein, but little bites of caramelized pork belly. And
then I do a pie just out of a flower
tortilla that you just stuff with ricotta and spinach, or
you can do you know, leftover chicken and ricotta and
leftover veedge, whatever you've got in the fridge and make
(11:01):
these really crunchy little pies in your air fryer. Still,
you know, do a great dinner, yeah, and full of nutrition.
But yeah, I kind of that chapter HONEYE bought an
air fryar is kind of my my version of air
friar Jack. Yeah, not my son's version of air fry.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Sure, But I mean it's like, because when aar fries
came out, I thought, oh, here we go. You know,
here's another The ear fries are going to be the
new popcorn makers, you know, just totally a totally unnecessary
kitchen implement. But I wonder if they've meant it, or
you know, even bread makers. And I know that breed
makers have kind of come back again a little bit,
but you know, remember when everyone had a breed maker
(11:40):
in about two thousand and four. You know, I thought
I was the new bread maker. But now but it
feels like it's gone to the next level. And like
you say, the recipes that you've shared and Too Easy
for air Fries are kind of maybe it's ear fries
but not like air fryer meals that you might see
on Instagram. Is that fair?
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, it's not my eighteen year old's TikTok feed,
Yes for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yeah, thank goodness.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Well, look, congratulations on Too Easy, and thank you because
I know so many people who'll be listening right now.
Love your cooking and love your recipes, but they also
love the idea of having a whole set of new,
really easy, affordable recipes that they'll be able to share
with their families. They look delicious, So we really appreciate
your time.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Jack really appreciate it. That is Donahy. Her new book
is Too Easy, and all of the details for it
will be up on the News Talks HEEDB website
Speaker 1 (12:38):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, Listen live
to News Talks dB from nine am Saturday, or follow
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