Podcast appearances and mentions of Janet Fletcher

Award-winning author, educator, and columnist Janet Fletcher is the creator of the Planet Cheese blog, which lands in email inboxes of the cheese-obsessed everywhere each week. On this episode, she joins Jessica for a conversation about her career, reflections on the availability of cheeses over the years, the sadness when a cheese is no longer produced, and the joy of discovering new cheesemakers taking the lead.Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Cutting the Curd by becoming a member!Cutting the Curd is Powered by Simplecast.

Guy's guest in this week's adventure in Food, Wine, & Fun is the author of over 30 books on food & beverage.

Today we traverse a long and winding Memory Lane as we discover forgotten treasures inside the pages of beloved yet underrated cookbooks. Molly learns her magical legacy and we narrowly escape murder by lasagna. Non, Non et Non! Transcript Books Mentioned Pasta Presto by Norman Kolpas Still Life with Menu by Mollie Katzen Cucina Simpaticaby Johanne Killeen and George Germon (1991) The Campagna Table by Mark Strausman (1999) The Dim Sum Dumpling Book by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo (1995) Chinese Home Cooking by Helen Chen (1996) 50 Chowdersby Jasper White (2000) Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook byMark Robinson(2008) Fresh from the Farmers' Market by Janet Fletcher (1997) Parisian Home Cooking by Michael Roberts (1999) Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan (2002) Southern Cakesby Nancie McDermott (2007) Repertoire by Jessica Battilana (2018)   Samin Nosrat's Lasagna Matthew's Now but Wow! - “I got lost in Tokyo Station and found the perfect comfort food,” by Bryan Washington, in the New York Times See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 124 - Janet Fletcher, Planet Cheese by Michelle Mandro

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://janeammeson.blog/2021/06/07/gather-casual-cooking-from-wine-country-gardens-by-janet-fletcher/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jane-ammeson/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jane-ammeson/support

Should you try a cheese-only cheese course? Why are cheese and bread not necessarily great matches for cheese? Which underappreciated wine and cheese pairing should you try today? How does sparkling wine stack up with your favourite cheeses? Have you been serving cheeses the wrong way? Should you eat the rinds on cheeses? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I'm chatting with award-winning journalist and author, Janet Fletcher. You can find the wines we discussed at www.nataliemaclean.com/winepicks. Highlights What shift can you see in the restaurant industry's approach to serving cheese? Which mindset shift did Janet want you to make when writing her first book about cheese? How did writing a weekly column create a space for Janet to deep dive into the culture, science and history of cheese? Why should you try a cheese-only cheese course? What extra consideration do you need to make when pairing wine and cheese? Is it a good idea to pair wine and cheese with grapes? Which problem might you encounter when pairing cheese with crackers? What creative bread and cheese pairing should you try? Which type of underappreciated wine does Janet recommend as a great pairing with cheese? Why is Gouda the perfect cheese to pair with your brandy? Why is sparkling wine Janet's "desert island wine"? What characteristics and flavours will you pick up on with Tomales Teleeka cheese? What do you need to know about double and triple cream cheeses? How are wine and cheese very similar? Which little-known, connoisseur-approved wine and cheese pairing should you try? What's the right way to serve Parmigiano-Reggiano? Why does Parmigiano-Reggiano make a great table cheese? Why do contrasting textures work so well with wine and cheese pairings? How can you tell which cheeses aren't meant to be sliced? What basic tips can you use when choosing a cheese knife? Should you eat the rinds on cheeses? Can you pair blue cheese with sparkling wine? How many cheeses should you serve at a dinner party? Can you use the horizontal tasting concept with cheese? What's the best way you can pair sparkling wine with goat cheese? Key Takeaways I love Janet’s advice that simplicity is often the key to a great cheese board -- let the cheese be the star both visually and flavour-wise rather than a lot of condiments. When it comes to condiments, many can clash with your wine whether they’re sweet, vinegary or pickled. The same goes with bread and crackers, best to stick to fairly neutral flavours. I can’t wait to experiment more with sherry and cheeses, especially an aged Gouda that has those nutty, butterscotch flavours. I found it interesting that triple cream cheeses are about 75% butterfat -- that’s the dry matter without any water versus 62% for double cream cheeses and 45% for average cheeses. It’s interesting how our perception of the salt in cheese increases as it ages and loses moisture. Janet has great advice for chipping rather than cutting hard cheeses to maintain their crunchy crystalize structure -- you can see the special knife she recommends in the video version of our conversation (https://www.nataliemaclean.com/blog/videos/janet-fletcher-wine-and-cheese-pairings-video/) About Janet Fletcher Janet Fletcher is the author or co-author of nearly 30 books on food and beverage, including Cheese & Wine, Cheese & Beer and Yogurt: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Janet publishes the weekly Planet Cheese blog and is the cheese columnist for Specialty Food and Somm Journal magazines.   She teaches cooking and cheese-appreciation classes around the country. Her journalism has received three James Beard Awards and the IACP Bert Greene Award, and her food writing has appeared in numerous national publications, including The New York Times, Saveur, Fine Cooking and Food & Wine.     To learn more about the resources mentioned in this episode, visit the https://www.nataliemaclean.com/105.

Martha & Mary

Wine Road Episode 89 - Wine & Food Affair, Nov. 2nd & 3rd   It's that time of the year again, Wine & Food Affair! This year, Beth & Debbie have truly curated a mustn't miss event. With local farm-fresh ingredients, top of the line chefs, paired with the perfect wine, how can it get any better?? Be sure to explore some of the new wineries participating, customize your weekend map, and prepare yourself for some of the best recipes around!    Wine Road provides the Wine, When and Where of Northern Sonoma County with news on events, wineries, wines, dining options, activities, and places to stay.     Show Notes  0:24 21st Annual Wine and Food Affair  4:20 Special Call-in Guest: Katie from Wilson Winery  6:35 Katie’s World Tour Itinerary  16:00 New to Wine & Food Affair Weekend  19:55 New Wineries to Wine & Food Affair 21:19 Book of the Day: Wine Country Table by Janet Fletcher  23:27 Alexander Valley Vineyards  24:30 Final Tips  27:00 Tickets are goin’ quick  Ticket Sales END on OCT 28    Action Requested* Enjoy today's podcast? Please let us know in a REVIEW! Visit the link below to see step by step instructions on how to leave a review on iTunes. Leave a review, and magically some Wine Road goodies may come your way... How to leave a review on iTunes    Links  Wine and Food Affair Tickets  Wine and Food Affair  Clark Wolf  Wineroad.com J Rickards Winery  Kelley & Young Wines  Mercury Wine Ramazzotti Wines Katie from Wilson Winery  Mazzocco Sonoma   Matrix Winery Pezzi King Winery  deLorimier Winery Soda Rock Winery  Rockpile Vineyards  Coyote Sonoma  Tim from Peloton Catering  Chuck Ross from F.A. Nino’s  Chef Donna Parsons  Bellwether Farms  Wine maker Breakfast Tickets  Somm Series Tickets Baldassari Family Wines  Seghesio Family Vineyards  Walt Baca Wines  Book of the Day: Wine Country Table by Janet Fletcher  Wine Road Recipes  Alexander Valley Vineyards  Interactive Map on Wine Road   Credits: The Wine Road podcast is mixed and mastered at Threshold Studios Sebastopol, CA. 

Nancy Light of the California Wine Institute joins Paul at Book Passage in Marin County to discuss traveling to enjoy the harvest in the state’s wine country. They also talk about the new book Wine Country Table, by Janet Fletcher.

Janet Fletcher the well-respected author of 30 cookbooks and creator of the blog, Planet Cheese, which opens readers' eyes to the world of cheese. She discusses her latest book, "Wine Country Table: with Recipes that Celebrate California's Sustainable Harvest." Valle dell'Acate winery in southeast Sicily produces wines made from native varietals as well as the iconic Cerasuolo di Vittorio DOCG. Sixth generation family owner, Gaetana Jacono, discusses the family history, winery, region and wines.This show is broadcast live on Wednesday's at 2PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Wine Country TableBy Janet Fletcher Intro: Welcome to the Cookery by the Book podcast with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table, talking to cookbook authors.Janet Fletcher: I'm Janet Fletcher in Napa Valley California, and I'm the author of 'Wine Country Table.'Suzy Chase: California, a western US state, stretches from the Mexican border along the Pacific for nearly 900 miles. Its terrain includes cliff lined beaches, the Redwood Forest, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Central Valley farmland and the Mohave Desert. Talk a bit about the range of California's bounty.Janet Fletcher: Oh you know Suzy, I think a lot of people think of California as just warm and sunny all the time, and we have a lot of that. We have a lot of sunshine, but we have an incredible range of climates. Climate zones, and micro climates, within those zones. We have a lot of cool, foggy coastal areas that are great for certain wine grapes and great for certain crops like lettuces and artichokes and brussels sprouts, and broccoli. I feel like there's a sweet spot for every crop you might want to grow somewhere in this state.Suzy Chase: This book includes 23 stunning farms and wineries. How did these 23 make the cut?Janet Fletcher: We were looking to showcase a variety of crops and a variety of growing regions, and all of the farms and all of the wineries that are showcased in the book, are leaders in sustainability. Some are organic, not necessarily, but all of them are really known as models of sustainable farming or grape growing, and that's really what we wanted to showcase. That California is not only the U.S.'s number one agricultural state but we're really global leaders in sustainable practices.Janet Fletcher: Which is not just ... of course sustainability has a lot to do with how you treat the land. Whether you do dor don't use herbicides and pesticides, are you a good environmentalist? But also, are you conscientious about saving other resources like water, like energy. Are you good to your employees? Are you a good member of your community? It's a more holistic approach to farming then, say, biodynamics or organics.Suzy Chase: In addition to the stories, this book includes 50 recipes that cover all the bases from breakfast to desserts. Talk a little bit about that.Janet Fletcher: Well, breakfast, one of my favorite recipes in the book is, I call it Golden State Granola. California is known as the Golden State. And the Golden State Granola really showcases one of our major crops, which is almonds.Janet Fletcher: There's a lot of toasted almonds in it, and toasted oatmeal and coconut and raisins and dates, and just kind of a compilation of a lot of the things that we're known for, here in California. It makes a great topping for yogurt, or a great breakfast, with some milk on top. So, really love that recipe for breakfast.Janet Fletcher: And smoothies, I'm a big smoothie fan, and I love taking dates or prunes. Prunes, you know, are just dried plums, and putting them in a blender with a frozen banana and some buttermilk, which is very low in fat, and making a delicious breakfast smoothie.Suzy Chase: Now, would a vintner 60 years ago recognize what's going on today in California?Janet Fletcher: Interesting question, I think actually a lot of the old timers, or people from a generation or two ago, were really surprised by how grapes are being grown in California today. One thing that comes to mind is that if you drive around the vineyards, vineyards almost anywhere in this state. I'm talking about vineyards for wine, not just table grapes, you're going to see what looks like sometimes kind of messy vineyards. They look like they have weeds in them. In the old days, vineyards were always really carefully tilled, and so the ground was very bare under the grapes. And today, it's not.Janet Fletcher: And that's because people are growing cover crops to attract beneficial insects and in some cases, to add nutrients to the soil, or maybe, prevent erosion. There are all sorts of reasons to plant cover crops. But, almost every vineyard is doing it today, so vineyards can look kind of messy, because they have these grasses growing up under the vines, or between the rows.Suzy Chase: You mentioned table grapes. What's the difference between a table grape and a grape for wine?Janet Fletcher: Well, some table grapes are used in wine making, one of the biggest ones is Thompson's Seedless. That's probably our main table grape. And it's used, it's used in wine, I wouldn't say it's used in high quality wines too much, but it is a grape that you can vinify. You can vinify any grape. You can add yeast, and ferment it and make wine.Janet Fletcher: But over the centuries, wine makers have learned that certain grapes produce a better flavored wine. Wine grapes tend to have thicker skins, they're not ones you would necessarily enjoy as a table grape, because they have thick skins and they have seeds.Janet Fletcher: And today of course everybody, for the table, they want a seedless grape with a thin skin. So, there is that difference of eating quality, but, and also, wine grapes, to make wine, they let them get really, really sweet. They get up to about, oh, almost a quarter sugar before they pick them. To make wine. And I think very few table grapes are picked at that high a sugar.Suzy Chase: Immigration is a hot button issue right now. How essential is the immigrant population with helping California farming production.Janet Fletcher: Essential is the word. Our immigrant communities are essential. We couldn't, we could not have agriculture in California without the people who work year round, in our vineyards and on our farms. They prune, they cultivate, they harvest. They are the labor force, and most of the native born Americans are not willing to do that work. It's hard, physical work. And so, immigrant communities, in California, agriculture is primarily Hispanic people, mostly from Mexico, who do a lot of the work in our farms. And they are just essential. And I think one aspect of the sustainability programs that most wineries and farms are signing on to is the understanding that working conditions have to be proper, they have to be beyond proper.Janet Fletcher: I mean, California regulates all of this. Farmers and vintners have to follow certain regulations about employee welfare. But people who are advocates of sustainability sort of go beyond that. I'm thinking of one great, one vintner in California, and I'm sure he's going to kill me when I'm, but he's quite a well known character. Larry Turley, of Turley Wine Cellars, who has pledged to put any one of his, the kids of any one of his employees through a state college. He'll pay their state college tuition, and he has done that for four and he told me that there are 28 more people currently, young people who would qualify, and he stands ready to put them all through state college.Janet Fletcher: So there's just this understanding that, employees are key assets, and you have to treat them well. It's just the right thing to do.Suzy Chase: One story that caught my eye was the Resendiz Brothers, in the town of Rainbow, an hour north of San Diego. Can you talk a bit about their story?Janet Fletcher: Isn't that a great town name, Rainbow? Yeah, and it really doesn't look like Paradise as you're driving up to it, it's a desert landscape. It's very dry and rocky. And very steep hills that are just bare, it looks like nothing would grow there.Janet Fletcher: But to go to Resendiz Brothers, which is in northern San Diego County, not far from the town of San Diego, you pull off the road and you drive up into the mountains. And there is this farm there, that's a cut flower farm. And we included cut flowers in the book, even though they're not edible, because there's a big sustainability movement in California cut flowers. You know, you can grow apples sustainably, and berries sustainably, but you can also grow cut flowers sustainably, if you choose to. And the Resendiz Brothers do that.Janet Fletcher: It's an operation that was started by a man named Mel Resendiz, who came to California as an immigrant, as a teenager, with nothing. And he started working on a cut flower farm just to, as a low man on the totem pole, and he learned the business. And he became very accomplished at growing these flowers in the desert.Janet Fletcher: They are a type of flower called protea, which doesn't take a lot of water, it likes that sun and those difficult conditions. And he started his own business, growing proteas for the florist trade. And he now has a large business, lots of employees, and he ships these flowers all over the world. They are gorgeous, and they grow out of this landscape that just looks like nothing would come out of it. So, he's turning this marginal land into very productive land that's supporting a very good business.Suzy Chase: He started out at 17, making $20 a day, and now he gets $12 a flower. This is a real great American story.Janet Fletcher: It really is, I'd forgotten those numbers, but yeah. Some of these flowers are quite valuable, and when I was down there visiting him, he took me, near the end of our visit he took me into his packing shed. And he started kind of ordering his employees around in Spanish, and they were bringing him all sorts of, all these cut flowers to his table in the packing shed. And he starts making this bouquet. And I thought he was making it for some client, that it was going to go off to some bride, somewhere, for some society wedding. It was this gorgeous bouquet, and it was getting bigger and bigger.Janet Fletcher: And finally, it was about two feet across, and he handed it to me. And I said, "Mel, I can't take that. I'm getting on an airplane in two hours. What am I going to do?" And he said, "You're going to take it on the plane."Janet Fletcher: So, in fact, I marched onto the plane with that bouquet, they let me on with it. And I fortunately had an empty seat next to me, and so I just put that giant bouquet of proteas in the seat next to me, and I put a seat belt around it. And off we went.Suzy Chase: That's so funny. I love it.Janet Fletcher: Yeah, a very generous man. Growing a beautiful, you know, building a great business on this beautiful crop that he found a niche for.Suzy Chase: You wrote in the book Luther Burbank, the legendary plant breeder, called Sonoma County the chosen spot of all this earth as far as nature is concerned. Talk a little bit about his ground breaking work.Janet Fletcher: Well, Luther Burbank was, I don't know where he was from. I'm not sure if he was a Californian, but he did most of his work around the town of Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County. And he was a famous plant breeder of the early, I'm going to say, the early 20th Century. And a lot of the fruits, primarily, are what he worked with. And a lot of the fruits that he created through hybridizing are still among our favorites, today. One called the Santa Rosa plum. Santa Rosa plum is one of our table plums, you can find it all over markets. The Santa Rosa plum is a great eating plum, that he developed.Janet Fletcher: But the one that we dry is called the Improved French plum, and that's a Luther Burbank hybrid. And that's what's grown in all of our prune orchards. Which are, it's just an absolutely delicious piece of fruit, both fresh and dried.Suzy Chase: In Sonoma County is the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. How did a world famous film director get into the wine business?Janet Fletcher: Well, Francis Coppola is a wine lover. And, he and his wife bought a beautiful heritage estate in Napa Valley, I'm going to say, maybe 30 years ago. And really transformed that. And then he, I think he just enjoyed the wine business. There's a bit of a performance quality to the wine business as well, in some levels, and I think he just enjoyed being in agriculture. I think his wife, Eleanor Coppola's an amazing gardener, and they went on to buy this property in Sonoma County, another important heritage estate. And that's where they have Francis Ford Coppola Cellars now.Janet Fletcher: It's a wonderful place to visit, and the thing that he did that was pretty revolutionary for the wine industry, is that he created this winery that is very welcoming to children. I think wineries have sort of shied away from that, for fear of crossing a line, offending people that they're marketing to children. But Coppola just embraced kids, and he created a swimming pool. He used to, he noticed that at his Napa winery that kids were always wanting to go into the fountains, and parents were always admonishing the kids not to go into the fountain. So he said at his Sonoma winery, he was going to have this giant swimming pool that kids could enjoy. So, there's all sorts of fun, family oriented things to do at his winery in Sonoma. Including a beautiful garden, great restaurant and this enormous, oversized swimming pool.Suzy Chase: Among the fog, what is harvested on the north coast?Janet Fletcher: The foggy areas on the north coast are really best for certain wine grapes that like cool climates like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir. In the Anderson Valley, which is one of our coolest growing regions along the coast, wineries are just growing varieties that are more typically associated with Alsace, one of France's coolest growing regions. That would be the varieties, like Riesling and Gerwurztraminer, so that's one of the few places in California where those cool climate grapes are still grown, in the Anderson Valley.Janet Fletcher: But as far as produce, those cool climate areas are really great for all those beautiful baby lettuces that you see in fancy restaurants. There's one grower along the coast, in a little, you can't even call it a town. It's just a little speck of a burg called Bolinas. He grows an amazing array of lettuces, very tender lettuces, and he has really, the farmer who deserves a lot of the credit for introducing the Little Gem variety, he started growing it and taking it to a Farmer's Market in San Francisco.Janet Fletcher: It's a Romaine type, but very small, very crisp. People fell in love with the Little Gem lettuce that this farmer was growing. And it's now, I mean, it's the trendiest lettuce. It's on every menu, and people have Little Gem Caesar salads, and Little Gem this and that. But he really introduced the Little Gem, I would say, to California agriculture.Suzy Chase: You wrote, "The early Sierra Foothills grape growers got it right. Zinfandel belongs here." Why is that?Janet Fletcher: Well, Zinfandel likes mountain vineyards, it does really well on these higher elevation vineyards. It likes some heat. And it doesn't really get a lot of flavor until it gets very ripe. Riper than you would pick, say, a Pinot Noir or a Chardonnay. And, it also, you know, it needs good drainage, like most grapes so that's, but it really likes the drainage that you get on a steep hillside.Janet Fletcher: You know, it got established in some of these older California vineyards, like 19th Century vineyards, in the Sierra Foothills, shortly after the Gold Rush. That's where the Gold Rush happened, and of course a lot of these people who came to California to mine gold, they liked to drink. And they wanted their wines, and so people started planting vineyards there. So some of our oldest vineyards are in that sort of Gold Rush area, in the Sierra Foothills.Janet Fletcher: And today's wine makers are just overjoyed when they can get a parcel that has some of these older vines on it. Some of them might be 80, you know, 70, 80, 90 year old vines. And they are very prized, because they have shown that they can survive in that climate. You know, it's like survival of the fittest. They're the vines that have done well there, have survived for all these years, and have very deep roots and make beautiful wines. So that's where these old vine Zinfandels that you read about, a lot of them are coming out of that Sierra Foothills area.Suzy Chase: Speaking of old vines, the Lucas Winery in Lodi is owned by David and his wife Heather Pyle Lucas. So, David purchased the land in 1976 after doing a stint in the Peace Corps and US Foreign Service with expertise in Asian rice cultivation. And he just wanted to own land and grow something. They have old vine, world class Zinfandel, and David has named every grapevine. I love that.Janet Fletcher: I went into one, into their barrel area, and there was this vine mounted on the wall. A dead vine, with no leaves on it. It's just those gnarly arms. And it was mounted on this wooden board, it makes almost like a cross shape. It looks this religious icon on this barrel wall.Suzy Chase: I found it funny, because I kept reading it over and over, and I was thinking, "A tractor ran over Cindy?" And then I was like, "Oh, Cindy's a grape vine." It was so funny.Janet Fletcher: Exactly, yeah, that was, David Lucas gives all his grape vines names, all his old ones. They have names because he just treasures them. He sees them as, you know, almost members of the family. And they are prized, and you can injure one if you have a tractor or a weed eating device that goes, there are these kind of plows. And when they sense the vine trunk they go around it, they retract and they go around it. But if you're not handling it properly, you can do some damage to a vine. And that's what happened to poor Cindy, she got nicked and she didn't survive. So, he mounted her on a wall, like a shrine, and it's quite, it's a beautiful, it looks like a work of art. Very gnarly arms that kind of stretch across the wall of their barrel room. You can't miss Cindy.Suzy Chase: So, on your personal blog, you wrote, "I live, cook, garden and write on a quiet street in Napa Valley. My house is not large, but my kitchen is. And my sunny garden is bigger yet." That sounds dreamy. Describe how the two years you spent as a cook at Chez Panisse shaped your taste.Janet Fletcher: I worked at Chez Panisse, it was one of my first jobs out of cooking school and it, I was very impressionable, and it made a big impression. And it has really stayed with me in the years since. That was more 30 years ago, but working with Alice Waters is just, well, it was a dream for a young cook. And she has such a strong point of view, a strong aesthetic, and it really made a mark on me.Janet Fletcher: A lot of it had to do with supporting small farms, supporting local farms, being an absolute obsessive about quality and working with only the best. You can't make good food without great ingredients, and also, I think as a cook, I learned to keep it simple. That, if you buy great ingredients, that you just don't want to do too much to them, because you don't want to screw them up. Alice really shaped my approach to cooking and certainly that experience of being at Chez Panisse and seeing all that gorgeous produce that would come in the door, made me want to garden. So I've been an avid gardener ever since that time.Suzy Chase: Your husband has said, "Over the years, Janet's cooking and recipe development has affected how I view wine." Talk a bit about that.Janet Fletcher: Well, Doug makes wines that are, I hate to use this word because it sounds kind of trite, but they're very food friendly. They are not hugely tannic, they are fruit forward, and the alcohol is restrained. And the tannin is gentle. Doug recently retired, but he's most, but most of his career in the Stags Leap district of Napa Valley, which is renowned for that style of wine, anyway. But the wines are primarily Cabernet, that's what the area is known for, and Cabernets, depending on how you make them and where you grow them, can be very tannic and hard to like when they're young.Janet Fletcher: Doug's are more feminine, more soft, more ... not soft in terms of low acid, they have good acidity and approachable tannins. So they're very good food wines, we eat a lot of beans and grains and fruits and vegetables in this household, and not a lot of meat, and the wines, his red wines are very complimentary with that kind of produce first way of eating.Suzy Chase: Now to my segment called My Last Meal. What would you have for your last supper?Janet Fletcher: I, you know, every time I have an avocado, a beautiful, ripe avocado, and spread it on homemade bread or whole grain bread from a good bakery, and I put some coarse salt on top, and a little squeeze of lemon or lime, I think, "This is what I want, for my last meal." It just doesn't get any better than a great California avocado, buttery, nutty, and I, you know, I'm quite happy with something like that. It's, in fact, I have that for lunch a lot. Just a piece of avocado toast.Janet Fletcher: So it makes me laugh, that avocado toast has become so trendy, because I've been eating that for a long time. Even at Chez Panisse, when I was a cook there, and I had like all this amazing food around me. For my little break time lunch, I would just grab a piece of bread and an avocado. And I would be very happy with that for lunch.Suzy Chase: You were ahead of your time.Janet Fletcher: In terms of avocado toast, yes. I've been enjoying it for a long time. And will continue, even when other people move on to other things, I'll be eating my avocado toast.Suzy Chase: Until it comes back around.Janet Fletcher: Right. These things are cyclical. No, people will never give up on avocados. It's one of people's favorite fruits, they're so luscious.Janet Fletcher: And I did get to visit an avocado grower in the book, and profiled him. He's down in the Carpinteria area, near Santa Barbara. Family farm, he farms with his wife, and has two adorable children, or three. And they grow citrus and avocados, and they're very sustainable about it.Janet Fletcher: In fact, he gets a lot of the mulch that he puts around his trees from a local Starbucks factory where they make Frappuccino, so there are all these coffee grounds that he can get for next to nothing. And he puts those around the base of his tree, to provide nutrients and keep the weeds down. And it, other people do not do that. It's pretty progressive, a pretty new thing to think about mulching your grove.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web, social media and your cheese class?Janet Fletcher: Well, I hope people will find me on janetfletcher.com, that's my website where I list all my classes. I teach a lot of cheese appreciation classes and cooking classes. I have a blog called Planet Cheese and people can sign up on my website, janetfletcher.com, it's a once a week read, something new that I've learned about cheese and want to share.Janet Fletcher: So, cheese is a great passion along with my love of writing about farms and farming and great produce. I do love the world of cheese, and I hope people will join me with Planet Cheese. Instagram, @janetfletcherNV, for Napa Valley. And Twitter, @janetfletcherNV.Suzy Chase: Awesome. Thanks Janet for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.Janet Fletcher: It's been my pleasure, Suzy, thank you for having me.Outro: Follow Suzy Chase on Instagram, @cookerybythebook, and subscribe at cookerybythebook.com or in Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening to Cookery by the Book podcast, the only podcast. The only podcast devoted to cookbooks, since 2015.

Tweet D and L Coffee Service Inc. and Sysco Corporation Sysco Philadelphia CAKE from Sysco at www.trycake.com/smallbites to get $750 off activation costs present the #1 listed “Food Radio show Philadelphia”, Small Bites with Donato Marino and Derek Timm of Bluejeanfood.com on Wildfire Radio this Sunday, April 14th at 635pm EST with us possibly doing the IMPOSSIBLE We are thrilled to welcome Chef Robert Irvine who is a world class chef, fitness authority, and philanthropist who seeks to inspire people to live better each and every day. He is the host of one epic night of food and music the 3rd Annual Beats 'N Eats - Food + Music Event at The Fillmore Philadelphia on May 13th from 7-11pm. Beats 'n Eats– A Food + Music Event– hosted by Chef Robert Irvine– is an immersive, one-of-a-kind food and music experience designed to increase opportunities for our veterans and members of the military. The event features a family style, six-course meal prepared by local and celebrity chefs such as Andrew Zimmern, Buddy Valastro, Cat Cora, Jose Garces, Kevin Sbraga, Marcie Turney, Matt Fein, and more with live music performances from both established and emerging artists between each course. Robert is a tireless supporter of our nation's military. He believes that none of his success would be possible without the brave men and women who defend our freedoms. For that reason, Robert founded Robert Irvine Foundation in 2014 to support veterans and their causes. Grants have been awarded to the USO, Valor Service Dogs, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and the American Veterans Center. For those of you who can't make the event but still want to see Chef Robert Irvine, Robert pioneered a new genre of programming for Food Network with his extreme cooking challenge show, Dinner: Impossible and parlayed that success into the even more popular Restaurant: Impossible which returns on the Food Network on April 20th with new episodes. Additionally, Robert has hosted or appeared on Food Network shows including Worst Cooks in America, Next Iron Chef, Restaurant Express, Chopped: Impossible and many more as well as doing partnered workouts with his wife Gail Kim to motivate and push each other at the gym. For more information or to purchase tickets for Beats 'n Eats– A Food + Music Event visit https://www.beatsneats.co/ Some people have called our show very cheesy, so we thought who better to have join us then Janet Fletcher the author of weekly blog, Planet Cheese, that is read by cheese enthusiasts internationally, is the cheese columnist for Specialty Food Association and The SOMM Journal magazines, and she is a member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers. Fletcher's journalism has received three James Beard Awards and the IACP Bert Greene Award, and her food writing has appeared in numerous national publications, including The New York Times, SAVEUR Magazine, Fine Cooking, and Food & Wine. Janet will be on to talk about her latest book “Wine Country Table: With Recipes that Celebrate California's Sustainable Harvest” from Rizzoli New York. Celebrating the Golden State's wine-growing regions, Wine Country Table features compelling stories and recipes that showcase the range of the state's agricultural bounty and the seasonal spirit that continues to define the produce-driven and ethnically influenced essence of California wine country cooking. Beautifully photographed, the book offers a visual tour of 23 stunning farms and wineries--including Cakebread Cellars, Domaine Carneros Winery, Handley Cellars, and Tablas Creek Vineyard, along with Lodi Farming (cherries), Hilltop & Canyon Farms (avocados and citrus), and Henderson Orchards (pears) to name a few--whose sustainable practices highlight the future of responsible farming and wine-growing embraced throughout California. Janet also teaches cooking and cheese-appreciation classes around the country www.janetfletcher.com Then coming in studio to talk about Philly's hottest dining destination East Passyunk Avenue is Adam Leiter the Executive Director of East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District (EPABID) and Dominick Leuzzi the co-owner of Stogie Joe's Tavern. He will talk about their Flavors on the Avenue Street Festival event held on Sunday, April 28, 2019 from 11:00am to 5:00pm. Flavors will take over five blocks of East Passyunk from Broad to Dickinson. The street will be filled with tasty bites and seasonal sips from dozens of restaurants, bars and cafes. Philadelphia's top chefs will fire up signature dishes and inventive small plates - putting their own twist on street food. Come for the food, but be prepared to stay for the day! On top of award-winning cuisine, experience all that East Passyunk has to offer with live entertainment, on-trend fashion, sidewalk sales, free family fun, crafters, art and much more! From the sweet to the savory, the casual to the fine dining, the American to the international, the Flavors media tasting tour has it all with selections from Bing Bing Dim Sum, Brigantessa, Cantina Los Caballitos, Fuel Healthy Kitchen, Mamma Maria Ristorante, Marra's Philadelphia - Italiana Cucina, Noir Philadelphia, P'unk Burger, Redcrest Fried Chicken, Stogie Joe's Tavern, and Ristorante Tre Scalini. Flavors has become one of Philadelphia's tastiest spring festivals and block parties. Text your friends and tell them "Meet me on East Passyunk!" Last, but certainly not least we are excited to have on Chef Paul Watterson of The Fanwood Grille. The Fanwood Grille (34 South Martine Ave., Fanwood) within six months of opening won the award for having the Best Soup in New Jersey, according to The The Daily Meal food website. Well Last summer, Fanwood Grille established themselves as a destination for fans of authentic Maine lobster rolls, and now has a growing reputation for its foot-long hot dogs. The eatery serves home-cooked food made on-premises with fresh ingredients and a little flair. (This in addition to having a classic diner/luncheonette menu of breakfast, burgers, grilled cheese, salads, soups and granola made from scratch on premises.) Some customers believe the Chicken Noodle Soup is almost medicinal and call in advance to reserve it because it sells so quickly. Along with other classics like Lobster Bisque, creamy Butternut Squash, and the award-winning New England Clam Chowder, chef Paul Watterson has invented soups including Mango Chicken Habanero, Falafel Soup (vegan and gluten-free),Italian Hot Dog Soup, and Cream of Thanksgiving Soup. They all sound delicious and can't wait to talk to them. You say you STILL NEED MORE!!! Don't forget we still have our regular weekly segments from Courier-Post nightlife correspondent and The New York Times recognized for Blog Eating in SJ, John Howard-Fusco for his news of the week and please remember that John's book “A Culinary History of Cape May: Salt Oysters, Beach Plums & Cabernet Franc” from Arcadia Publishing The History Press is available, Chef Barbie Marshall who is a Chef Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen Season 10 finalist, appeared on Season 17 of FOX Hell's Kitchen #AllStars, as well named Pennsylvania's most influential chef by Cooking Light will delight us with her tip of the week, and a joke of the week from legendary joke teller Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling of The Howard Stern Show fame and his autobiography “The Joke Man: Bow to Stern” from Post Hill Press is available for purchase on Amazon.com and a documentary film of his life by Ian Karr will be released Fall 2019. D & L Coffee Services Inc. and Bluejeanfood.com hope you will use the TuneIn app to listen worldwide or also catch Small Bites Radio syndicated on KGTK 920AM, KITZ 1400AM, KSBN 1230AM, KBNP 1410AM, Salem Radio Network, ScyNet Radio, Stitcher Radio, PodOmatic, Indie Philly Radio, Player FM, iTunes, and TryThisDish Radio which is the only independently owned and operated international chef-driven foodie and lifestyle radio network in the world. D & L Coffee Services has an expert staff of highly qualified, certified, and experienced office, technical, and sales personnel. D & L Coffee Services are able to provide your business, home, or special event the absolute best from the beans they sell, vendors they work with, Italian delicacies available for delivery, catering on-site for any sized affair, hands-on barista training, equipment available for purchase, and maintenance/repair services for your espresso and coffee machines. You can stop by their warehouse at 7000 HOLSTEIN AVE, SUITE 3, Philadelphia, PA 19153 during business hours or call the office at 215-365-5521 for an appointment, consultation, or any questions. Go to www.trycake.com/smallbites and you and our listeners can get $750 off the activation fee. That's a 75% discount. And with that discount, you get a user-friendly Point of Sale solution that includes cloud reporting and world-class 24/7 support. CAKE is the Point of Sale system that lets bar & restaurant owners focus on the guest experience and STOP worrying about tracking every sale as CAKE does that for you. You can automatically save information and review it later, from anywhere. The post Small Bites – Episode 108 appeared first on Wildfire Radio.

Janet Fletcher chats with Diane about her latest book, Wine Country Table. A Napa Valley resident and long-time food writer, Janet's Planet Cheese is an industry favorite newsletter. Cutting The Curd is powered by Simplecast.

Noted cookbook author Janet Fletcher stops by the program to discuss her latest offering, "Wine Country Table."

Amy chats about sustainability with Janet Fletcher, author of Wine Country Table.

NWP welcomes three time James Beard Award winner Janet Fletcher! Celebrating the Golden State's wine-growing regions, Wine Country Table features compelling stories and recipes that showcase the range of the state's agricultural bounty and the seasonal spirit that continues to define the produce-driven and ethnically influenced essence of California wine country cooking. Beautifully photographed, the book offers a visual tour of 23 stunning farms and wineries--including Cakebread Cellars, Domaine Carneros, Handley Cellars, and Tablas Creek Vineyard, along with Lodi Farming (cherries), Hilltop & Canyon Farms (avocados and citrus), and Henderson Orchards (pears) to name a few--whose sustainable practices highlight the future of responsible farming and winegrowing embraced throughout California. Award-winning author Janet Fletcher's recipes turn any gathering into a celebration. Wine pairings and recommendations add sophistication to everyday meals. Wine Country Table shows readers firsthand how responsible growing practices and careful technique result in delicious dishes you'll be proud to share with family and friends.   http://www.janetfletcher.com

Janet Fletcher has dedicated her life to writing about good foods, which includes cheese. An author of multiple books and writer of the weekly blog, "Planet Cheese", she shares why she loves cheese so very much.

Author and Cheese Expert, Janet Fletcher, joins the ladies for a most delightful and drool-worthy afternoon of cheese chatter. We’ve decided Janet is a true cheese goddess, and we think you’ll find her just as enchanting as she enlightens us on so many aspects of wine’s favorite sidekick. Grab your favorite beverage, and perhaps a wedge of something new, and explore the wonderful world of cheese along with us! Author, Cheese Aficionado, Janet Fletcher, World Cheese Tour, Planet Cheese, Wine, Vodka, Whiskey

Prevailing theories of how we produce and perceive spoken language are largely based on a handful of well-studied languages with a focus on segmental features. At the same time, few would dispute that phonetic realization of an individual speech segment depends on where that segment is positioned relative to the entire linguistic structure of an utterance. The languages of our region provide a rich source of prosodic as well as segmental diversity ranging from stress and tone languages to those that show a complete absence of lexical prosody. Detailed exploration of a variety of languages and language contexts is essential to test and extend our existing typological models.

From the Leaders Sport Business Summit in New York this March, former Coca-Cola marketer Scott McCune helms a discussion on the merits, measurements and impacts that come with an official Olympic association. On the panel: Janet Fletcher, brand director, Olympics & Sports Marketing at Proctor & Gamble Trudy Hardy, VP of marketing at BMW North America Phil Pacsi, VP consumer marketing at Bridgestone North America Lisa Baird, CMO, US Olympic Committee On the agenda: The birth, evolution and impact of P&G's game-changing 'Thank you, Mom' campaign BMW's integration into the fabric of US Olympic preparation and performance Bridgestone's first crack at an Olympic Games: why it's activating in the US, Brazil, South Korea and Japan only this year The link between a US presidential election and a Summer Games, and why the American public might need a feel-good dose of healthy patriotism a little more than usual  

Discover the incredibly versatility of yogurt as an ingredient (with the added bonus of probiotic health benefits!). On this Cutting the Curd Book Review, host Diane Stemple chats with James Beard award-winning journalist and author Janet Fletcher about her new book – Yogurt: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. This program was brought to you by Academie Opus Caseus. “With yogurt, it has a long history, so there are many traditional recipes that are not well known in this country and I wanted to introduce them to people.” [9:40] “I think one of the strengths of the book is the recipe for making yogurt from home – it’s a little different!” [14:53] —Janet Fletcher on Cutting the Curd

This week we discuss cheese and beer pairings with author Janet Fletcher who literally wrote the book on the subject. Her book, Cheese & Beer, gives great recommendations of beer and cheese pairings and we discuss some of these pairings with her. In studio we had 5 beers and 5 cheese paired with them all based on her suggestions. Lots of great topics covered this week! Beer lineup this week: Oskar Blues- Dale's Pale Ale Jolly Pumpkin- Bam Noire Victory Brewing Company- Wild Devil Allagash Brewing Company- Four Great Divide- Oatmeal Yeti Stout

This week on Cutting the Curd, host Diane Stemple interviews Janet Fletcher, food writer from Napa Valley and author of Cheese and Beer. Janet writes a weekly column in the San Francisco Chronicle where she reviews cheeses, and gives a beer or wine pairing suggestion at the end. Tune in to hear Janet’s thoughts on combining beer & cheese! This program has been sponsored by Wisconson Milk Marketing Board. Today’s music provided by Snowmine. Image from Janet Fletcher “I definitely think it’s true that beer is an easier match to cheese [than wine].” [28:00] “I really have never met a brewer who didn’t like cheese, so it’s a natural match right there!” [32:00] Janet Fletcher on Cutting the Curd