If you were to open our 'vast' recipe file box here at The A-List – you’d find 2 cards.
1. How to make a bowl of cereal
2. How to make a vodka martini
To say we're not exactly 'cooks' around here – is an understatement. Even boiling water is tedious and well… hot.
Still though… Savory, delicious sounding recipes continuously lure us in as we thumb through our endless stream of glossy magazines. But seriously… does anyone ever actually MAKE these things?
Meet Clay Dunn & Zach Patton. They do. They're the brave-adventurous-mad-scientists-hero-chefs behind,
'The Bitten Word' is an awarding-winning, food blog with so much goodness and accolades that you have to read them all HERE. Started in 2008 as part of a New Year's Resolution, The Bitten Word's tagline reads: "Resolving to put our food magazines to use".
And they do.
Trying everything from Mousse to Manti, Cocktails to Canapes - Clay & Zach launch fearlessly into the great food-unknown.
They are honest if the recipe went well. You'll get the thumbs up if it's worth it to try on your own. And on the odd occasion - even what went wrong and how to fix it.
So let's see.... They're smart, funny, love cocktails AND peanut butter - and have actually fulfilled many of our own (broken) New Year's Resolutions.
There was no way we couldn't ask: "Clay and Zach of 'The Bitten Word'....
"What's on Your A-List?"
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What 5 ingredients should everyone have in their kitchen?
- Bacon Grease
- Molasses
- Fresh eggs
- Sriracha
- Garlic
Your dream kitchen would have what 5 things in it?
- Two ovens
- An 8 burner stove
- A massive counter workspace
- Plenty of storage for dishes and food
- Plenty of natural light
- Heck, while we’re dreaming, we’ll take one of those built-in Japanese flat-top teppanyaki grills.
Your new favorite recipe is?
- We’re loving quinoa salads right now. We made one for the blog, and it’s just perfect for summer.
When you’re hungover (it could happen) you crave/make?
- Bagel breakfast sandwiches. Everything bagels, egg, cheddar and a smear of mustard. It cures all.
Favorite Shopping Websites?
- We’re having a crush on Fab.com right now. So much cool stuff -- we’ve already purchased a few gifts from there.
What’s always on your Grocery List?
- Bananas. They’re always on our list. We snack on them, throw them into shakes. We get nervous when there’s a lack of bananas in the house.
Favorite Junk Food?
- Does peanut butter count as junk food? In the quantities that we eat it, we think it probably does.
Favorite Music, Artist or TV Show you like to cook to?
- We’re listening to a lot of the band Fun. right now. It’s a great soundtrack for cooking, cleaning, drinking, you name it.
Tech/Gadgets you use?
- We’re an Apple family. Apple TV . iPhones. An iPad.
- We bought a Kindle last year for a big trip we were taking, but we’ve only used it so far when we’re on the road.
- We take a lot of photos for our blog. We’re using an Canon E0S7D and we love it.
Newest Obsession?
- Little Serow, a new Thai restaurant in Washington D.C. It’s Northern Thai food, insanely spicy, and only has a tasting menu. We’re obsessed.
Can’t Live Without?
- A ceramic knife. We have two of them now, one that’s an 8-inch chef’s knife, and one that’s a paring knife. They’re super sharp and they’re the knives we reach for most often.
Secret Obsession or Indulgence?
- For Zach: Peanut butter.
- For Clay: Pistachios.
- For both: Anything that’s peanut butter and chocolate combined.
Best Gift You Have Ever Given?
- We gave each other a trip to China for the holidays last year. It was a wonderful, crazy way to spend Thanksgiving.
Great Gift idea for “The Person Who Has Everything?”
- Make them dinner. People don’t cook for other people nearly often enough. Whether you’re doing a full blown meal or just baking something for a friend, there’s not much you can do that’s more thoughtful than to make them something yourself.
Great Host/Hostess Gift or What you like people to bring when you make dinner?
- No one has done this for us and we haven’t done it for anyone else (yet), but we love the idea of bringing a really nice bottle of olive oil as a host gift. So few people buy nice olive oil for themselves -- it’s such a treat.
Best Advice or something you’ve learned?
- Our hands down best advice for cooking: Taste your food while you’re cooking.
- Adding a bit of salt before a dish is served can make it immeasurably better.
- Don’t underestimate salt!
What else would you like to do or accomplish?
- We want to see a lot more of the world. We haven’t been to Africa, and we’ve seen very little of South America and Canada. We’d like to see more of Eastern Europe. Our list of dream destinations is getting very long.
AND FINALLY: Any other recommendations you would like to give? Favorite Restaurants? Recipes? Any LIKES or DISLIKES?
LIKES:
- Great meals at home
- Perfect gin and tonics in the summer.
- D.C. public pools.
- Dogfish Head 60-minute IPA.
- Grilling.
- This summer tuna salad:
AND FINALLY...
- Like so much of America, we’re completely obsessed with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, the book from the popular chain of Ohio ice cream stores. Get the book. Make some ice cream. Your whole life will be changed.
Congratulations Clay and Zach... You Just Made The A-List !
