Cooking with Bruce and Mark

It's not too late in the year for grilling! Although we're starting to tip to autumnal colors and although Mark is busy taking down our gardens, we're still firing up both the charcoal and the gas grill for great dinners after the shorter and shorter days.

Mark, the writer, has a list of great things to match the season on the grill. Bruce, the writer, will add how he believes you can turn these things wonderful on the grill.

Plus, o...

Did you know there are simple additions to recipes that can take your favorite dishes over the top? We've got a list of single ingredients that up the game for all sorts of foods (or even take-out fare).

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of thirty-seven cookbooks and over twenty thousand original recipes. We've made a career out of food and cooking. This podcast is about our passion.

We've also got a one-minute coo...

We've been in the food business for over twenty-five years . . . and we're involved with food long before we started to writing about it. We've eaten a lot of weird things. So here are some of the strangest things we've dared to eat. (Beware: The list includes a lot of innards.)

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about packaged poultry from the supermarket. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week!

If you'd li...

Ketchup. We all know what it is. But do we? It's not a thing. It's actually a category.

Where's the word come from? How was it originally used? When was the first ketchup recipe? How has it become the condiment we know today?

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of over three dozen cookbooks. This podcast is about our major passion in life: food and cooking.

If you'd like to check out our latest cookbook, COLD CANNING,...

What are the top chain restaurants in the United States? Have we been to them? What do we think about them? You might be surprised by how many we have (or haven't!) been to.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about better batters for pancakes or cakes. And we're very happy about pork belly this week.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of over three dozen cookbooks. Our latest is COLD CANNING: small batch preser...

Chaos cooking. A new trend. Well, sort of new. About two years old at this point, but it's found it's way into restaurants across the country. What started as a "throw it from the pantry into a pot" technique has morphed into the new version of culinary fusion.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of more than three dozen cookbooks, including our latest: COLD CANNING, a guide to turning small batches of fresh produce...

Fiber-maxxing. It's the latest social-media craze among food and fitness influencers. What is it? Why is it absurd? But also, why does it touch on something very important?

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of over three dozen cookbooks (plus Bruce's knitting books and Mark's memoir). Food and cooking are our passions. We're so happy to be able to share that with you.

If you'd like to see our latest cookbook, COLD ...

What happened to the Instant Pot? It's come off its highs and changed dramatically. Its story is not one of overproduction or the whims of popularity. It's a more complicated story that involves investment finance and private equity.

Join us, Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of four Instant Pot books, including THE INSTANT POT BIBLE. We want to talk about what happened to this favorite kitchen appliance. Plus, a one-mi...

We've learned a lot after writing and publishing after thirty-seven cookbooks. We'd love to share with you those lessons.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough. We've actually written forty cookbooks, including two knitting books by Bruce and a memoir by Mark. We've been around the block! We'd love to tell you what we've learned over this long publishing career.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip. And we're really excited ...

Nostalgia is such a big part of food trends. It shows up in dining, cooking, cookbooks, food writing, even food packaging. Think of that old-fashioned truck on the Peach Truck boxes!

Why is nostalgia such a big part of food trends, dining options, and even flash-popular things in North American cooking? Let's talk about the part of nostalgia in both our career and even in the books we've written.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scar...

Burgers! What are they without their toppings? Let's talk about the most popular trends for burger toppings in 2025!

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of thirty-seven cookbooks (plus Bruce's knitting books and Mark's memoir!).

We're going to get Bruce's honest reactions to the most popular burger topping trends for 2025. Plus, we've got a one-minute cooking tip for better drinks this summer. And al...

We all love ice cream. As our photographer, Eric Medsker, says: "Even bad ice cream is good ice cream." It's hard to argue with that!

What are the trends for ice cream in the summer of 2025. We've done the research and have the answers. Some of them may surprise you! Not only about flavors but even about how ice cream is sold in North America.

Plus, we've got a one-minute cooking tip about cooking together. And we'll tell you what's ...

Side quests. A term from gaming but now a part of cultural moment. Everyone has a side quest, a way to find and fulfill their passions, even as they do whatever they do to pay the bills.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of over three dozen cookbooks. We've each found this career as a side quest that became our main quest.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip. And we'll tell you what's making us...

No doubt, the internet is being flooded with AI recipes. In fact, even unscrupulous publishing is being flooded by these generated recipes as small, independent publishers pop up who take advantage of the "free" content to package it as a book.

But there's some hope. AI recipes aren't all bad. And there are ways to identify them before you caught in the trap of making, oh, lemon meringue trout pie.

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Sc...

What happens when you don't have on hand what a recipe requires?

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, veteran cookbook authors of over three dozen cookbooks (not counting the ones we ghostwrote for celebs). This podcast is part of food and cooking passion.

We've got a one-minute cooking tip about getting more flavor in your food. We're also talking about various easy food substitutions. And we'll tell you what's making us hap...

Food recalls! They happen all the time. It seems there's always another one announced. What are some of the latest? And what are steps we can take to make sure we're safe at the table?

We're Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough, authors of thirty-seven cookbooks including the latest, COLD CANNING! To find that book, please click on this link.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip (that's not really a trick but a call-out to you gu...

Bread-and-butter pickles. Always in our fridge all summer long. But we don't want to go to the hassle of canning them in huge batches. We don't need to survive the apocalypse with pickles!

This recipe is from our book COLD CANNING, which you can find at this link. We hope you'll make a small batch of this pickles. And no need to copy this recipe down as you listen to this episode. You can find the recipe on our website at this link.

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Curry oil. Eighteen spices. A culinary wonder: herbal, aromatic, and irresistible.

We're making eighteen-spice curry oil, a great finishing oil for take-out or even your own curries. To find this recipe, look for it on our website here.

This is a recipe from our new cookbook COLD CANNING. If you'd like a copy of that book, please click here.

We've also got a one-minute cooking tip about grilling. And we'll tell you what's making us ha...

Cowboy candy: sweet, spicy jalapeño rings. They're a part of Mark's childhood. We're headed to the kitchen to make a small batch without any need of a steam- or pressure-canner.

This recipe comes from our book, COLD CANNING. It's all about making small batches of preserved, pickled, or fermented things for the fridge or freezer without the need of the pressure- or steam-canner. If you'd like a copy of the book, please click this lin...