T H E R E AL DE AL
those bowls and on those plates and I thought a cookbook was a good way to share. The cookbook, Record Recipes, was a nine-month project. I spent a lot of lunch hours cooking and photographing and a lot of nights and weekends designing and compiling. I am proud to have done it all myself. Big shout-outs to the friends all over the U.S. who tested recipes for me, though. If anything doesn’t work out for you when cooking from the book (*cough*) blame them! What is your favorite recipe in your cookbook? EZ: Oh, man! I don’t think I could possibly pick a single favorite recipe. I like and eat them all. Every recipe can instantly remind me of a time I made it or the person or people I made it for. In that regard, they are all very important to me. I would say that I am probably most proud of “The Best Damn Cookies Ever.” I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and baking is truly a science, so the fact that I have developed a pretty killer chocolate chip cookie recipe is a bit of a 'brush-yo’shoulder-off' point of pride.
ERIN ZIESKE AGE: 35 // HOMETOWN: RAPID CITY SPECIALTY: “FEEDIN’ PEOPLE”
BY KINSEY GUSTAFSON
ERIN ZIESKE’S love of food and recipes started when she was a kid experimenting in the kitchen. She’d spend time watching Graham Kerr’s The Galloping Gourmet on PBS after school and poured over her first Food Magazine subscription. After traveling the world and trying many cuisines, she decided to focus her passion into a delicious-looking Instagram account and her own cookbook. How did the idea of your cookbook come about and how was it brought to life? Erin Zieske: I began as that insufferable person on Instagram who would photograph their food all the time, but being in Rapid City, not, let’s say, New York City, they were more skewed towards what I was making, not what I was ordering. Eventually, enough folks wanted to actually know what was going on in 44 // MARCH 2016
What is your go-to meal? EZ: I love a good 'kitchen sink salad,' or as my best friend calls them, “garbage bowls.” They are essentially a bed of lettuce with everything but the kitchen sink added in. Add cooked rice and you’ve got a good start for a grain bowl. Throw in four or five kinds of diced veggies. I’ll add a protein like rotisserie chicken or pressure cooked pork shoulder, some crunch from chips (yes, chips or pretzels I won’t judge), savory granola or raw nuts and all topped off with a super bright, acidic dressing. On Instagram search #SaladSoSueMe for more ideas. This recipe isn’t in the book, but in the deep cold of a South Dakota winter, my staple is jook or congee. It’s a simple, savory rice porridge. I top mine with pork, a poached egg, avocado, cilantro and drizzles of fish sauce, liquid aminos, shallot oil and sesame oil. I will never get sick of it!
Where do you get inspiration for new recipes? EZ: I constantly absorb ideas from other Instagram accounts, articles online, magazines, television shows, nonfiction books, you name it. In that order, some current favorites are @ chipsaroundtheworld, TastingTable.com, Lucky Peach Magazine, Mind of a Chef (PBS) and The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon. What are your tips for someone who hasn’t cooked before, or is nervous to branch out in cooking? EZ: Look, anyone can cook! Refusing to say, 'I can’t cook' is half the battle. Get out of your head and get into the kitchen. Find a recipe, no matter its difficulty level, and just do it. Find someone in your life that would love to help you. Ask your best friend, your boyfriend, your grandma. Just decide to be positive about it. Things always need more butter, more salt, and more acid than you think. That’s a freebie. What would you say is the one staple everyone needs in their kitchen? And the one recipe everyone should know how to make? EZ: There isn’t one thing everyone needs universally. If all you want to eat is pizza, maybe you always have a ball of dough in the freezer. If you’re like me, you get passionate about your lunchmeat and your rice cooker. Just find what you love and really hone in and get the best or make the best you can. As far as one thing everyone should know how to make? If you’re an adult, you should have a signature cocktail and be ready to serve it to your guests the moment they walk in your home. That’s real talk. Find Erin’s cookbook, Record Recipes, online at recordrecipes.com and follow her on Instagram @honorcontent.