December 15, 2024 • 8 mins
(01:14) Join Doug Heilman, as he shares a heartfelt, behind the curtain 'year in review' of The Pittsburgh Dish, with you as an essential part of our success story.
(04:35) Plus, get ready for an enticing culinary recommendation from our friend Kanika, with the unique diner experience at the Chop Shop in Butler, where traditional American classics meet creative twists, like roasted strawberry milkshakes and duck confit.
(06:15) We’re keeping the flavors coming with a final recipe of the year, a personal family favorite of Chef Ben D'Amico: Great Aunt Rose's braised calamari, a simple yet cherished holiday dish that carries rich emotional ties and versatility.
We'll be taking a short winter break. But rest assured, we’ll return soon in 2025, ready to continue celebrating the rich and diverse food culture of our region.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Doug (00:01):
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
Want to get a little nebby thisweek and know how our show
performed this entire year.
I'll be sharing a year inreview, Craving diner food with
a twist.
Our friend Kanika has a spotfor us up in Butler.
(00:22):
And want one more recipe foryour seafood repertoire?
Chef Ben D'Amico shares greatAunt Rose's calamari.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
As The Pittsburgh Dish comes tothe end of its first year, I
want to take a moment to thankall of our advertisers and
(00:42):
sponsors throughout the year.
First off to the good folks atIslay's and Beano's for being
our premier sponsors on thefirst 10 episodes, along with
folks like Jimmy from ScottTownship, Laureen from
Pittsburgh, Jane from Irwin andJohn and Zita of Chip and Kale,
who all signed up to be monthlysupporters on our website.
(01:04):
With their help, we were ableto cover most of our production
and distribution costs on ourhosting site, Buzzsprout.
Thank you.
We're quickly wrapping up ourfirst year in 2024.
And if you're like me, youmight get a little nebby at
times.
You might be wondering who elselistens to this show, or does
anyone else listen to ThePittsburgh Dish, and I'm happy
(01:26):
to report we have somestatistics that I'm excited to
share with you.
Recently, a few of our toplisteners shared their end of
year Spotify review, showingthat the Pittsburgh Dish was
somewhere in their top list ofpodcasts that they're listening
to, and I have our overall statsfrom our hosting service,
Buzzsprout.
So here is the rundown.
First off, let's thank all ofour guests on the show.
(01:48):
We posted 42 full-lengthepisodes with interviews,
recommendations and recipes.
In 2024, The Pittsburgh Dishwas streamed or downloaded over
11,000 times in 41 countries and578 cities.
In addition, each of our newepisodes garners about 111
(02:12):
listens or downloads in thefirst seven days that it's out,
and, from our hosting servicedata, that puts us in the top
25% of all podcasts.
Thank you so much for listening.
I thought it might beinteresting also to let you know
where everyone is listening.
89% of the time it's on amobile device, and 45% of you
(02:33):
listen through Apple podcasts,another 18% through Spotify and
about another 11% prefer a webbrowser, so that might be our
website, or something like wish99.7 FM.
And what about followers?
Where are you following us?
Well, thank you so much for thenearly 1600 folks following us
on Instagram, another 330 onFacebook and, interestingly, in
(02:58):
the podcast streaming services172 of you follow the show
directly in Apple podcasts and147 of you follow the show
directly in Apple Podcasts and147 of you follow the show on
Spotify for those same immediateupdates and downloads.
Thank you all so much, and ifyou're not following the show,
please do so.
Finally, I thought it might begood to turn around and tell you
(03:20):
all who we're following andlistening to.
There's a lot of local supportand inspiration that we've
garnered throughout this yearand I'd be remiss if I didn't
keep those people in the mix.
First off, I'd love to thankChad Medved of I'll Call You
Right Back Podcast.
Chad does a weekly show andhe's been doing it for years,
interviewing just a breadth ofinteresting people through our
(03:40):
region.
If you're not following andlistening to his show, you
through our region.
If you're not following andlistening to his show, you
really should.
We've also got inspiration fromRick Sebak's Gumbands and Shelly
Danko Day's With Bowl and Spoon, and we've also received
tremendous support from otherpodcasters, like the YaJagoff
podcast.
John and Rachel have both beenon the show, as well as Megan
Harris, Sophia Lo and the crewover at CityCast Pittsburgh.
(04:03):
Again, they've been on the show, I've been on theirs, and I
give the CityCast crew bigcredit for doing a daily podcast
.
Oh my goodness.
And with that I want to saythank you to everyone that's
been on the show, contributed toit and that is listening and
following everything we're doing.
Thank you all so much for sucha great first year of The
(04:23):
Pittsburgh Dish.
Keep listening, following andspreading the word as we
highlight the amazing food sceneof our region.
Thank you Up next if you'relooking for diner food, but with
a bit of a twist, our friendKanika of that Curry Smell and
the Indian Somm has a specialplace for us in Butler.
Kanika (04:44):
Tony and I were at a farm store in Butler, Butler
County.
We actually had a wonderfulplace.
We had a wonderful dinner atthe Chop Shop in Butler.
It's a classic American diner,but their dishes were all with a
twist and I loved it.
I had this roasted strawberrymilkshake which I've never seen
(05:07):
done before.
It was so amazing.
And then I had this duck.
It was confit and grilled andthere were different parts of it
.
It was like a crispy skin.
There was a sandwich in asandwich, and this is Butler.
Doug (05:22):
And a classic American diner, roasting strawberries and
duck confit.
Yeah, crispy.
Kanika (05:27):
And it was so amazing.
And Tony had this pasta, whichwas all homemade.
It was amazing.
And this is like and it's sucha cool place too.
There are old car signs andlike gas signs everywhere.
And a cool place too.
There are old car signs andlike gas signs everywhere and it
just was amazing and I feellike we will be going there back
again.
Doug (05:41):
It was awesome, the Chop Shop.
Kanika (05:42):
The Chop Shop.
Doug (05:44):
All right, we need to go there.
Kanika (05:46):
We absolutely do.
Yeah, that was great and it hada lot of a very big vegetarian
menu too.
Doug (05:52):
Oh, that's always good, Kanika.
Thank you so much for being onThe Pittsburgh Dish.
Kanika (05:57):
Thank you so much for having me.
Doug (06:00):
You can find out more about the Chop Shop on their
Instagram handle or website atChop Shop Butler, and you can
follow Kanika on her twoInstagram handles.
The Indian Somm and That CurrySmell.
Are you looking to add one moreseafood recipe to your holiday
or regular repertoire?
We recently sat down with ChefBen D'Amico of Market District
(06:24):
and he leaves us with one finalrecipe of the week for this year
.
And, Ben, I know you're doingmega recipe industrial type
cooking for Market District, butwhen you come home and you cook
for your family, is there aneveryday simple recipe that you
love to make that you couldshare with us?
Ben (06:43):
I mean, I don't know if I have a simple one, I think I
have a holiday one, this braisedcalamari.
Braised calamari yeah, A lot ofpeople for holidays will do the
fried calamari and it's veryeasy and calamari is not an
everyday ingredient.
Well, you told us you do thefeast of the seven fishes.
Is this one of the dishes thatcomes up?
(07:03):
And you could buy the frozencalamari and you just cut it up
and it's very simple becauseit's one pot.
Okay, so it's onions and garlicand I do mushrooms and some um
peppers or harissa, something alittle spicy, and then I add the
calamari, pull it out, add inthe tomato sauce and just braise
it down for two to three hours.
So it's an easy process.
It's only a couple ingredients,but that's one that I love and
(07:26):
my family loves.
My son won't touch it.
Doug (07:29):
Is it a family tradition?
Did somebody else make this?
It is.
Ben (07:31):
My great-aunt Rose made it for us in her recipe in her
honor, and so it's great becauseyou could just eat a bowl of it
or put it over sauce or mashedpotatoes, so that's one of my
favorite ones.
You don't just have to eat itduring the holidays either.
It's just usually you find thatabundance of seafood around
December, when people arespending and having those
celebrations.
Doug (07:49):
Great Aunt Rose's braised calamari Sounds delicious.
It's a wonderful must try, chefBen.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, and thanks for beingon The Pittsburgh Dish.
That's our show for this week.
We're going on a short holidayand winter break, but we'll be
back really soon with more freshepisodes.
In the meantime, we hope thatyou catch up on some of our past
(08:11):
shows, and thanks so much forlistening.
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
Want to get a little nebby thisweek and know how our show
performed this entire year.
I'll be sharing a year inreview, Craving diner food with
a twist.
Our friend Kanika has a spotfor us up in Butler.
(00:22):
And want one more recipe foryour seafood repertoire?
Chef Ben D'Amico shares greatAunt Rose's calamari.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
As The Pittsburgh Dish comes tothe end of its first year, I
want to take a moment to thankall of our advertisers and
(00:42):
sponsors throughout the year.
First off to the good folks atIslay's and Beano's for being
our premier sponsors on thefirst 10 episodes, along with
folks like Jimmy from ScottTownship, Laureen from
Pittsburgh, Jane from Irwin andJohn and Zita of Chip and Kale,
who all signed up to be monthlysupporters on our website.
(01:04):
With their help, we were ableto cover most of our production
and distribution costs on ourhosting site, Buzzsprout.
Thank you.
We're quickly wrapping up ourfirst year in 2024.
And if you're like me, youmight get a little nebby at
times.
You might be wondering who elselistens to this show, or does
anyone else listen to ThePittsburgh Dish, and I'm happy
(01:26):
to report we have somestatistics that I'm excited to
share with you.
Recently, a few of our toplisteners shared their end of
year Spotify review, showingthat the Pittsburgh Dish was
somewhere in their top list ofpodcasts that they're listening
to, and I have our overall statsfrom our hosting service,
Buzzsprout.
So here is the rundown.
First off, let's thank all ofour guests on the show.
(01:48):
We posted 42 full-lengthepisodes with interviews,
recommendations and recipes.
In 2024, The Pittsburgh Dishwas streamed or downloaded over
11,000 times in 41 countries and578 cities.
In addition, each of our newepisodes garners about 111
(02:12):
listens or downloads in thefirst seven days that it's out,
and, from our hosting servicedata, that puts us in the top
25% of all podcasts.
Thank you so much for listening.
I thought it might beinteresting also to let you know
where everyone is listening.
89% of the time it's on amobile device, and 45% of you
(02:33):
listen through Apple podcasts,another 18% through Spotify and
about another 11% prefer a webbrowser, so that might be our
website, or something like wish99.7 FM.
And what about followers?
Where are you following us?
Well, thank you so much for thenearly 1600 folks following us
on Instagram, another 330 onFacebook and, interestingly, in
(02:58):
the podcast streaming services172 of you follow the show
directly in Apple podcasts and147 of you follow the show
directly in Apple Podcasts and147 of you follow the show on
Spotify for those same immediateupdates and downloads.
Thank you all so much, and ifyou're not following the show,
please do so.
Finally, I thought it might begood to turn around and tell you
(03:20):
all who we're following andlistening to.
There's a lot of local supportand inspiration that we've
garnered throughout this yearand I'd be remiss if I didn't
keep those people in the mix.
First off, I'd love to thankChad Medved of I'll Call You
Right Back Podcast.
Chad does a weekly show andhe's been doing it for years,
interviewing just a breadth ofinteresting people through our
(03:40):
region.
If you're not following andlistening to his show, you
through our region.
If you're not following andlistening to his show, you
really should.
We've also got inspiration fromRick Sebak's Gumbands and Shelly
Danko Day's With Bowl and Spoon, and we've also received
tremendous support from otherpodcasters, like the YaJagoff
podcast.
John and Rachel have both beenon the show, as well as Megan
Harris, Sophia Lo and the crewover at CityCast Pittsburgh.
(04:03):
Again, they've been on the show, I've been on theirs, and I
give the CityCast crew bigcredit for doing a daily podcast
.
Oh my goodness.
And with that I want to saythank you to everyone that's
been on the show, contributed toit and that is listening and
following everything we're doing.
Thank you all so much for sucha great first year of The
(04:23):
Pittsburgh Dish.
Keep listening, following andspreading the word as we
highlight the amazing food sceneof our region.
Thank you Up next if you'relooking for diner food, but with
a bit of a twist, our friendKanika of that Curry Smell and
the Indian Somm has a specialplace for us in Butler.
Kanika (04:44):
Tony and I were at a farm store in Butler, Butler
County.
We actually had a wonderfulplace.
We had a wonderful dinner atthe Chop Shop in Butler.
It's a classic American diner,but their dishes were all with a
twist and I loved it.
I had this roasted strawberrymilkshake which I've never seen
(05:07):
done before.
It was so amazing.
And then I had this duck.
It was confit and grilled andthere were different parts of it
.
It was like a crispy skin.
There was a sandwich in asandwich, and this is Butler.
Doug (05:22):
And a classic American diner, roasting strawberries and
duck confit.
Yeah, crispy.
Kanika (05:27):
And it was so amazing.
And Tony had this pasta, whichwas all homemade.
It was amazing.
And this is like and it's sucha cool place too.
There are old car signs andlike gas signs everywhere.
And a cool place too.
There are old car signs andlike gas signs everywhere and it
just was amazing and I feellike we will be going there back
again.
Doug (05:41):
It was awesome, the Chop Shop.
Kanika (05:42):
The Chop Shop.
Doug (05:44):
All right, we need to go there.
Kanika (05:46):
We absolutely do.
Yeah, that was great and it hada lot of a very big vegetarian
menu too.
Doug (05:52):
Oh, that's always good, Kanika.
Thank you so much for being onThe Pittsburgh Dish.
Kanika (05:57):
Thank you so much for having me.
Doug (06:00):
You can find out more about the Chop Shop on their
Instagram handle or website atChop Shop Butler, and you can
follow Kanika on her twoInstagram handles.
The Indian Somm and That CurrySmell.
Are you looking to add one moreseafood recipe to your holiday
or regular repertoire?
We recently sat down with ChefBen D'Amico of Market District
(06:24):
and he leaves us with one finalrecipe of the week for this year
.
And, Ben, I know you're doingmega recipe industrial type
cooking for Market District, butwhen you come home and you cook
for your family, is there aneveryday simple recipe that you
love to make that you couldshare with us?
Ben (06:43):
I mean, I don't know if I have a simple one, I think I
have a holiday one, this braisedcalamari.
Braised calamari yeah, A lot ofpeople for holidays will do the
fried calamari and it's veryeasy and calamari is not an
everyday ingredient.
Well, you told us you do thefeast of the seven fishes.
Is this one of the dishes thatcomes up?
(07:03):
And you could buy the frozencalamari and you just cut it up
and it's very simple becauseit's one pot.
Okay, so it's onions and garlicand I do mushrooms and some um
peppers or harissa, something alittle spicy, and then I add the
calamari, pull it out, add inthe tomato sauce and just braise
it down for two to three hours.
So it's an easy process.
It's only a couple ingredients,but that's one that I love and
(07:26):
my family loves.
My son won't touch it.
Doug (07:29):
Is it a family tradition?
Did somebody else make this?
It is.
Ben (07:31):
My great-aunt Rose made it for us in her recipe in her
honor, and so it's great becauseyou could just eat a bowl of it
or put it over sauce or mashedpotatoes, so that's one of my
favorite ones.
You don't just have to eat itduring the holidays either.
It's just usually you find thatabundance of seafood around
December, when people arespending and having those
celebrations.
Doug (07:49):
Great Aunt Rose's braised calamari Sounds delicious.
It's a wonderful must try, chefBen.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, and thanks for beingon The Pittsburgh Dish.
That's our show for this week.
We're going on a short holidayand winter break, but we'll be
back really soon with more freshepisodes.
In the meantime, we hope thatyou catch up on some of our past
(08:11):
shows, and thanks so much forlistening.
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