The Pittsburgh Dish
010 Culinary Bonds and Community with Shayla Penn
(00:58) Shayla Penn of Burgh Eats and Treats! graces our podcast with tales that extend beyond the plate, spotlighting the undeniable truth that food is the golden thread in the fabric of our communities.
(14:28) This episode isn't just a tasting menu; it's a celebration of places and faces that define our culinary landscape. You'll hear about the 'Burgh Eats and Treats!' Facebook Group's dramatic influence on local eateries like Gabriella's, where the perfect fish shout-out can make all the difference. And as palates expand, so do our connections, with Shayla's story underscoring how a shared meal can turn strangers into family.
(31:30) As we plate up the final course, we'll talk about the art of pairing the perfect wine with succulent dishes, specifically lamb chops. Catherine brings her expertise to the table, discussing the harmony found in a bottle of Bordeaux blend.
(37:42) To sweeten the send-off, Jeff's peach bread recipe promises to turn your kitchen into the most beloved bakery on the block. So, ready your forks and tune in for an episode that's as rich and satisfying as the perfect bite.
(00:58) Shayla Penn of Burgh Eats and Treats! graces our podcast with tales that extend beyond the plate, spotlighting the undeniable truth that food is the golden thread in the fabric of our communities.
(14:28) This episode isn't just a tasting menu; it's a celebration of places and faces that define our culinary landscape. You'll hear about the 'Burgh Eats and Treats!' Facebook Group's dramatic influence on local eateries like Gabriella's, where the perfect fish shout-out can make all the difference. And as palates expand, so do our connections, with Shayla's story underscoring how a shared meal can turn strangers into family.
(31:30) As we plate up the final course, we'll talk about the art of pairing the perfect wine with succulent dishes, specifically lamb chops. Catherine brings her expertise to the table, discussing the harmony found in a bottle of Bordeaux blend.
(37:42) To sweeten the send-off, Jeff's peach bread recipe promises to turn your kitchen into the most beloved bakery on the block. So, ready your forks and tune in for an episode that's as rich and satisfying as the perfect bite.
Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. What's the secret to a thriving food community? Our guest, Shayla Penn, tells it all. When lamb is on the menu, what wine will always be a great choice? Our expert shares her pick and want a seasonal quick bread for those warmer months ahead. We have just the recipe this week, all that ahead. Stay tuned. We want to thank Isaly's for being a sponsor of The Pittsburgh Dish. It's time to revisit that classic combination of their chip-chopped ham and their perfect barbecue sauce, paired together in your favorite slow cooker. Find recipes, product information and store locations on their website at Isalyscom. Now on to the show. Well, hey, thanks for coming on to the show.
Shayla:Awesome. I'm so excited. I can't wait to share this with my foodie fam.
Doug:Oh, I love it, would you introduce yourself and what you have going on in food right now?
Shayla:Okay, well, I have my hands in a couple of things, but I'll start. My name is Shayla Penn. I am the founder of a Facebook group called Burgh Eats and Treats!
Doug:And it's a group, not a page. It's a group, so you have members. Yes, I have members, I looked this morning and it's over like 7,000 members.
Shayla:Yes, and how old is the page? 10, not even 10 months. That's amazing. Yes, I've always been a foodie, basically since Facebook existed, and when I found like that there's people that actually make foodie groups, yes, so I always was following them in, particularly one that I was really interested in, and I made a lot of connections. But unfortunately the man who ran that group, his wife, passed away so it kind of dissipated and I felt like a huge void for years, like about two or three years. So basically I kept complaining to my best friend, myesha, and she said why don't you just make your own? She was like you have the following, just do it. She said I'll help you. So I said, okay, I don't know anything about running a group. So I reached out to my friend who knew about it, jess, and Jess said sure, I'll help you. I'm not into food, but I'll help you start. And then I started putting it out there and 10 months later I'm at almost 8,000. I don't call them followers, I call them my foodie fam.
Doug:Yeah, they're the members of the group Right.
Shayla:I talk to them almost as much as I talk to my regular family.
Doug:Oh, my goodness.
Shayla:So you know, I get up.
Doug:I check in, hey, how you doing. Sometimes we talk about things outside of food. Like I've made some really good connections. So you're really hitting a need that people wanted that community thing to bring people together.
Shayla:I get inboxes almost daily about, like just this morning, my moderator Stacy. She inboxed me and said Shayla, my son is autistic.
Catherine:I have.
Shayla:My 11 year old son is autistic and so I share that with my foodie fam. And she inboxed me. Her son has autism and she said you know a small feat that he did today. And we were both in crying and tears and I've never met this woman. She said, shayla, this foodie group has changed my life. She says it got me out of depression, it's got me cooking again, it's got me interested in my grandson and his needs, his dietary needs, because my son has food aversions. Her grandson has food aversions. It's such a blessing. It's a blessing.
Doug:It's an amazing way that you are bringing people together through food but for a lot of other reasons, a lot of other connections.
Shayla:Yes, I believe that food is a connection with anybody. I mean everyone eats everyone has their own culture and I feel like food is a way that we can relate to each other, learn about each other. You know and you never not know everything about food. You learn something every single day.
Doug:You can learn so much about people through their food, exactly and learn about, you know, food aversions or dietary restrictions or religious reasons and everything.
Shayla:Everything revolves pretty much around food. When you're sad, when there's a funeral, when there's happiness, when there's a wedding, what are we doing?
Doug:That is so how my family is, with food too, right? Can you take me back and tell me a little bit about you? Grew up here, local to the Pittsburgh area, right.
Shayla:I am originally from Baldwin. I grew up in Baldwin and then in my early 20s I moved over to the West End, so now I live in Sheridan.
Doug:What role has food played in your family? Did you have some folks that were always cooking for you or teaching you how to cook? Tell me a little bit more about that.
Shayla:Well, growing up it was just me and my mom. Basically I grew up in a single family home. I'm an only child, so I actually didn't realize until I started staying with other family members, how healthy my mother actually ate.
Catherine:Oh really.
Shayla:Yes, that's a girl, mom, yeah, my mom shopped at the strip district for their meets and she would go different places for different things and it was just a routine for me. I didn't, that was just normal you didn't know any different.
Doug:Right.
Shayla:She was going for the good stuff. Right, she was. She would order fresh seafood and proteins I mean never really the package stuff Like I mean from the butcher. Like my mom was very health conscious and always dieting but always wanted me to have healthy eating habits, until I started getting older and staying with my grandmother. She was like the opposite. She was a junk food eater. She didn't cook and so I basically lived off of like I had lost a whole bunch of weight. My mom was like what's going on? I was like basically I wasn't eating.
Doug:At your grandma's you didn't like the junk food. Yeah, I wasn't eating. At your grandma's you didn't like the junk food. Yeah, I didn't. I wasn't used to it like.
Shayla:Kool-Aid? I didn't ever. I've never had Kool-Aid until I was like 10 or 11 years old like my mother never believed in sweet cereals, or I always. I ate raisin bran that was sweet for me that was a treat so, but it gave me a real understanding of food at a very young age, and so when my mom would work, I would cook for myself, and you know I didn't have a choice.
Doug:It was neither eat, you know, fast food or cook for myself, and how old do you think you were when you started cooking for yourself?
Shayla:About 13. Yeah.
Doug:When.
Shayla:I was first, you know, being able to stay at home while my mom worked. Yeah, when I was first, you know, being able to stay at home while my mom worked, she would take out like fresh fish and I would broil it, cut up fries and make them myself. And I didn't realize, you know, that I was actually cooking until I had my daughter and son at a young age. I had my daughter at 20 and my son at 21. And I ended up meeting my best friend, who I am with to this day, who made me start the group. She ate healthy too, and so that's how we bonded through food. We would cook together, we had a lot of money, so I might have meat, she might have a vegetable, and we would get together and get our kids together and just make meals. And that's how we do that to this day.
Doug:Yeah, why not? You have sort of a similar story For me and my sister. You know, we were kids of the early 80s and we were cooking for ourselves by 8, 9, 10.
Shayla:You didn't have a choice.
Doug:Back then you didn't really have a choice. But you know, you also find out that by cooking at home you are also saving a lot of money. If you know how to cook, if you know how to shop and know how to cook, if you know how to shop and know how to cook Exactly, especially if you know how to shop.
Shayla:Right, I want to tell you this real quick. When my mom and me would shop, we would have a contest and see however close we got to what we thought the price would be. We would get like the bigger steak or the bigger you know protein. So it was a game for us, but it taught me in the long run how to shop, like how to look for weight.
Catherine:You know.
Shayla:It's crazy how I didn't realize it until I was older, how she was really teaching me at the same time so. I'm thankful for that she's passed away now, I think about her often, and it's mostly related to food, of course.
Doug:Thank you for sharing that, no problem. You said you still cook with your friend. Oh, thank you for sharing that, no problem. You said you now you still cook with your friend. And now, who else has inspired you or what got you going out to the restaurants and stuff, because I see you doing a ton of that now too.
Shayla:Oh, so I'm a huge TikToker.
Doug:Oh yeah.
Shayla:Not on TikTok, but I scroll on TikTok.
Doug:Well, that was interesting because I actually we connected on Instagram and then I tried to find you on TikTok and I couldn't.
Shayla:So yeah, I'm a bird watcher on TikTok. I go on there and I guess my algorithm is food and my daughter actually is a huge like influencer. She always was like Mom, mom, you got to cook, like you could be putting your stuff on here and going and being a foodie. I was like I don't know anything about TikTok. But I went on TikTok and I scroll and I'm like I can do this. I was like I can do this, like I cook pretty well myself. You know like I have a very deep understanding for food. I really started cooking a lot over. Covid, you know, that kind of forced us to and we had a large. We had about eight to 10 people daily at my house. So I was making very large meals. Well, everyone kind of left and I was like, okay, well, I'm still making enough food to feed.
Doug:During lockdown.
Shayla:During lockdown, you had to adjust back down to a smaller amount Right right Once, everyone, once COVID ended, my daughter, my son, I have two, four kids altogether. Okay, I have a 24 year old, a 22 year old an 11 year old and a nine year old.
Shayla:So my son went to the military, he went to the national guard and then my daughter moved out after him. So you know it's just the four of us now. So now, but I was cooking for eight to 10, almost 12 people. So I just started, you know, sharing it with friends and having people over and everyone's loving my food. It tied into my group so I was able to relate like here's what I made and it just kind of engaged people. I'm in every foodie group. Probably there is. I might be too. I think I really am, because I search other groups but I don't see the personality sometimes in other groups and I like to interact.
Doug:Well, I would say let's talk about that, because I think that's what's different about your group. You actually try to make a community with a lot of calls to action Like what are you all making today? It's like Sunday afternoon dinner, what's everyone doing? Or what are you doing this Monday?
Shayla:I see that I'm serious. You really are, I'm very serious.
Doug:I actually feel a little bad when I don't respond right away.
Shayla:I'm serious, like it's okay if you don't want to share, or even if you say, hey, I'm not cooking today, I'm like okay, what you ordering. But I just feel like that's a great way to engage, even if people are hesitant, because I know sometimes people will inbox me their things and I'm like share it. So I try to engage as much as possible and I try to keep it diverse.
Doug:Yeah, I was going to say too, that I see a lot, a much bigger blend on your group of people cooking at home versus eating out, which I think is good.
Catherine:And I like both, I mean.
Shayla:I do both as well, me too.
Doug:But I like to see what are you making and I also like to hear about where you're going.
Shayla:Right, yeah, I think I do a balance of both, because I cook for other people and I eat out.
Catherine:So most of the time I'm doing both.
Shayla:In one day I'll cook something and I'll go out to eat honestly, but with the foodie things that I'm doing now my little foodie tour, there's a lot of regulars that I engage with that I don't even know You've never met in real life.
Doug:Never met in real life.
Shayla:Never. And real bonds. I tease people because I never know who it is until I click on their picture, because I'm just so engaged, but I love it. I've been there, probably more than anything, throughout the day.
Doug:I wanted to ask, before we got too far away from it, since you do love to cook and you've cooked for a lot of folks for a long time what would you say are some of the go-to dishes that people love that you make?
Shayla:I can just tell you today it's this salmon tuna salad. I don't know what it is that I'm doing to these people, but they go crazy over it Salmon tuna salad.
Doug:Yeah, so can you describe it a little bit Like what's, what do you put in it? That's maybe a little different or special.
Shayla:You know, I add a little twist, a little twist of seasonings. But I had just came up with it one day because that's all I had in my cabinets and I was like, okay, I'm just going to throw this together. And it tasted really good. My son loved it. My friend saw that. I posted it.
Shayla:My friend's mother who's sickly she's sickly and she doesn't cook anymore and she was like hey out, can I try that? And um, she loved it and she kept asking me to make it. And now I can't keep it. I seriously can't keep it. That is popular, my mother's wedding soup, that's precious to me I won't share that recipe I will take that, unless it's my daughter, I will share with daughter, but it's precious to me because, she would make it and I make it just like that.
Shayla:That's what really inspired me to, you know, really start cooking, because when my family's sick, I hate canned soup.
Doug:Yeah.
Shayla:I absolutely despise canned soup. So I'll make a big batch whatever I have, kale, spinach, anything I'll just throw it in there and I freeze it. I take it and I put it in containers and I freeze it, but then I started giving it away to people when they're sick. Oh, I have the soup and they loved it. It's the best, yeah, so now I can't. Every time I make it they're like calling me, calling me, texting me, calling me. Well, because you're letting them know you're making it on the.
Shayla:Facebook group I post every single. Probably I get on my family's nerves. I'm not even going to lie Anywhere we go or anything I make, I probably take a picture of it. Hey guys, this is Shayla from Pittsburgh. Berg Eats and Treats Foodie Group on Facebook. No-transcript.
Doug:The Facebook is your main platform. Facebook is my main platform.
Shayla:Right, so that's my. That's the best way, I think, to interact with people Like I see people that are foodies but they focus on food. I like to go in and indulge myself. Meet the owner, meet the chef, hear their story. What made you start cooking Like? I want to hear your story that led you to where you're at now and what your future is Beyond your cooking.
Doug:I see you going out and you're doing sort of this food tour now.
Shayla:Yes, what happened was one of my admin, jess, who helped me start it. She was writing the work and she heard about a contest on Star 100.7.
Doug:Yes, One of our local radio stations here.
Shayla:Right, right, Star. It was mor ning show with Bubba and Mel. Yes, One of our local radio stations here and I called the first one was for five best places to get fish. Five best places to get fish, Right so. So I didn't even know I was on the air actually when this happened.
Doug:That might've been better.
Shayla:Yeah, it was because I would have freaked out. But I he said to me you know how big is your following? I told him it was like 5,000 at the time and this was like, so you.
Doug:I was just saying just like a couple months ago, right?
Shayla:So it was barely at 5,000. Mel was looking it up while we're talking. He says, okay, well, I'm looking for the five best places to eat right now.
Shayla:So I said got you. Like you know, I just went to like three different places that week so I said, oh, I already have two places of mine. But I reached out to my foodie group, bergeats and Treats, and I said, hey, what's a good place to eat? That's Pittsburgh-owned small business, something that's not like a mainstream branch-off kind of restaurant. I wanted like a mom and pop. Mom and pop.
Doug:Right, the people that are doing something really good, but they deserve the shout out, right, right.
Shayla:Exactly so. My first real stop it was Gabriella's on the South side in East Carson.
Doug:Gabriella's on Carson.
Shayla:I've always passed there and I've always heard the food was good, but I didn't know too much about it until I reached out to their foodie group and they're like go, go, it's amazing, and the rest is history. And I had gotten a fish and grits and it was the best I've had since I was in Vegas. It was amazing Fish and grits.
Doug:Yes, I've had shrimp and grits. No, it was fried cod and grits and grits. That sounds good yeah.
Shayla:I went with my friend Teresa she's like my breakfast bud and so he gave me his big breakfast and his fish and grits and I bit into that and I haven't had it that good since Gordon Ramsay at Fish and Chips in Las Vegas.
Doug:Oh my, I mean it was top tier. That's saying something Ten out of ten, yeah.
Shayla:So I shouted him out on the air and then I went back a couple weeks ago and I was like hey, he hugged me. He said, Shayla, I had to close because everyone was coming down and saying I heard you have the best fish on the radio. And he said he thanks me in my inbox and he's in my group every single day since then and that just made me feel so good to just get him out. The people that might not have necessarily stopped, Because it's a really small place.
Shayla:Most people do eat uber eats, but I mean his personality. You would want to go in and and have a sit down with him.
Doug:He's amazing and say it again for everybody that's listening okay, it's called gabriella's.
Shayla:Um, he's switching it over to chase, so it's actually Gabriella's on Chase the owner's name is Pete Henderson. Okay, and he's. He actually went to high school with my husband, oh, okay.
Catherine:So you got a little connection there.
Shayla:Yeah, it just happened to happen that way. So when we went back we took some pictures and he just kept hugging me and just saying how grateful he was for that opportunity and his business has really been affected because of that shout out. So that made me even want to go do more, do more. I got it. I'm addicted now, like I'm always like scalping places out, and well, let's talk about let's.
Doug:Let's maybe hit two more places that you think you really loved and they could use a little love. Okay, what? What else have you stumbled upon that you really like?
Shayla:okay, so just ironically it's on Carson, but it's further down. It's in like the 25th or 2600 block of Carson. It's called Kulcher K-U-L-C-H-E-R. All right, and I had heard so much about him in my foodie group and that's how I find these places. I pull them. I say, hey, name some places that are up and coming, name some mom and pop up and coming new places and I kept hearing about this place.
Doug:The culture is also in the South Side Right. And what kind of dish did you have there? What did you taste?
Shayla:He is half Korean and half black. And he does these Asian fusion bowls All right. They're called trumi bowls so I had it's called a New Jersey trumi bowl and I had bok choy like sauteed vegetables, a homemade aioli sauce. It was amazing, like 10 out of 10. He also made a New Orleans bowl that was fused with New Orleans like dish Like Cajun Creole seasoning.
Doug:Cajun Creole seasoning yeah, yeah, it's like um gumbo, gumbo yeah it's like a root right.
Shayla:It's an asian fusion like wow, yeah, it was awesome too.
Doug:And birria tacos I had that oh, I love birria tacos, my goodness and it was so interesting to hear his story.
Shayla:So funny story. Real quick. I go and ask some other. I like to ask other people if they like their food. Have they had it? And I went up to a group of ladies there was three of them and I said hey ladies, have you eaten here before they're like? No, they said Shayla from Bergeats and Treats, we're here because you were talking about this place in the group. She was like, matter of fact, I talked to you this morning. I said what? So shout out to Jelena. She's awesome. She's been following me and cheering me on. I wanted to shout her out too.
Shayla:You're going to start doing like foodie roundups for your group, oh, yeah, I want to meet people, like I wanted to do that Novo, but it was kind of last minute.
Doug:Yeah, Novo's kind of it's off the hook right now because it's so new. It was packed, was it good?
Shayla:It was awesome. I want to go back when it's less crowded.
Doug:Right, sometimes I need to let the crowd dissipate. I couldn't get a drink.
Shayla:But that was the first weekend. I was just, you know, kind of just trying to at least get something Like I wanted, so bad, I have never had it. So I was like determined.
Doug:So we're talking about the new Asian food hall down in the strip district Right Just opened, right Just opened.
Shayla:So I can't wait to go back, and I want to. I want to start making events Like I want to start making events in a group. Yeah, and like inviting people and you know, just trying to set up some time with people and just really meet them. Like I feel like, like I want to hug them as soon as I see them.
Doug:Like I feel like they're my foodie fam, so I love it. Yeah, I guess that's where that takes me on to like usually some of the future focus questions. Right, so this group is going really strong. You're doing this regular thing on the radio with star 100.7. Right, so now what is next for you? What other goals do you?
Shayla:have. Oh, I can tell you that easy. So I'm going to Atlantic City and we leave this Saturday. I'm so excited to like, unplug and online. But I intentionally was asked the group. I said, hey, is anybody in the Atlantic City area? That's a foodie. And I reached out to my friend Tama. Never met her before, born and raised in Pittsburgh, now she lives in Atlantic City. And she said me oh, my goodness.
Doug:What a connection.
Shayla:Right, so she put together five spots. So I'm going to try to at least get some on the list and blog while I'm out of town, because we travel seven or eight times a year. Okay, so we go to, like you know, hershey, myrtle Beach, we go to Gatlinburg, I mean, we travel. So I like to be a foodie.
Doug:No matter where you're going, right. So Shayla Penn going outside of Pennsylvania a little bit, Exactly like on tour.
Jeff:Yeah, on tour.
Doug:I love it. It's not the'm going to stretch my wings.
Shayla:Oh yeah, and you know what I love to do? I love to find places Like I don't care where you are, You're going to find a Pittsburgh bar or some kind.
Doug:Everywhere.
Shayla:We were in San Diego and we found a bar, Like you know the game. We watched it and we had a ball Vegas, I mean anywhere. So I love to do that, too, when I'm out of town. Oh my goodness, I love that. I'm a foodie. I'm a legit foodie.
Doug:All right, so out of state tours, maybe a little short list for people that are traveling.
Shayla:Right Also, yes, I'm also in touch with Wham-O and a VJ there and he's trying to work it out for me to do it, because what I really want to do is start tying places to eat and have music where that might not necessarily involve a bar. I went to an R&B cafe shop called Queen's Beans Cafe in. Coriopolis. So it's right in the heart of. She bought the old First Citizens Bank.
Doug:I think I've been to Queen's Beans. I know I have actually. Yes, she's amazing.
Shayla:They serve breakfast and lunch, and she's also like I asked her what's her five-year plan so she wants to do like a rental space, you know, for small events. She wants to serve alcohol and she wants to, you know, extend her hours and utilize her outside. So she has. I was like man. This would be great to tie in with music, and you know, I'm in the African-American culture and that's what I hear on that about hanging out in bars. But I don't want to go to a bar to have good food and relax and hang out and listen to music. I would rather go to Queen's Bean, and so I told you know, so I reached out to them and they're going to try and work me into their schedule too. So I'm really excited about that. And then PTO oh yeah, we need to work on that.
Doug:I'll give you a shout out.
Shayla:That is my ultimate goal, like that's probably what if I can make it on there, I feel like probably, like make my goals.
Doug:Well, I love those goals, Goals of 2024.
Shayla:Like that would be amazing. I'm so glad.
Doug:You got to put it out there. Yeah, a few years ago I sort of said the same thing to a chef friend that I knew. I said I wouldn't mind being on TV or I wouldn't mind doing this or that.
Shayla:And it's funny when you say it, it kind of makes it happen. It does because it keeps coming up in you know other conversations and other connections that I'm making in this foodie because I call it a foodie adventure Like it's, you know, it's ups and downs, it's turns you never know, you know. So I'm excited for my future. I have my family supporting me, my boyfriend Will and my kids and friends and my foodie fam. It's just. I just feel like I'm floating, like I can't I get up so excited to just log on my phone see what's going on, who's posting what. Something funny, something cute. So this has just been amazing.
Doug:I think you've built more than just a Facebook group. You really have built a community. Yeah, I hope that's what I was cause.
Shayla:I felt like I had that in my previous group, but not on the level that I feel I have right now, like I feel like I'm complete, like if I just had my foodie group for Facebook eternity, I would be happy. I would honestly just build, meet new people. Just, you know, expand, expand. I want to make it not just for Pittsburgh. I want people who you know first thing if they're visiting and they never been here. I want my group to be like the first go-to, like hey, where is there to go?
Shayla:Boom boom, boom. There's, you know, and not just the typical. You know what we're known for Right.
Doug:Yeah, I think it's actually important to introduce people to the array of food that we have, the different cultural aspects of food. We know that we have a lot of good stuff, but even Pittsburghers, we're bad about crossing the river or the bridge to get there. And I think your group has helped you connect some of those places and you're helping other people find those places too.
Shayla:Right. Yes, you're exactly right, and every day I get something. Like you know, I've eaten on this side of town so much, but now you've got me wanting to go to the south side or you know, or to Washington or you know anywhere.
Shayla:So I'm like that's what I want, that's what, and I want these small business owners who are making amazing quality, high quality food at a reasonable price. Like you know, they're just trying to make a living doing what they love to do a reasonable price. Like you know, they're just trying to make a living doing what they love to do and I want to connect those people who are looking for good food and want to support and don't even know that they're supporting but just eating good food Right Right.
Doug:I think it ties back to so many things you said earlier. You know good food from starting with mom. You're finding great places to go and you are helping these small businesses that could use the help and those connections. I think the more that you give out, the more you're going to get back and I feel, and I love to hear back from these owners, I do.
Shayla:I've heard positive feedback from every single stop that I've done, saying Shayla, thank you, because not only do I do like my review, I do a beautiful reel that they're able to share. My daughter helps me with the editing. I don't do it myself.
Doug:I wish I had help with that I don't know how to do this.
Shayla:No, it's a way for us to bond, because we bond over food too a lot. She calls me all day Mom. What do I have to do to make this Mom, Mom and I love it.
Doug:That's the best.
Shayla:I wish I could do that with my mom at that age. I had lost her around the same age she is now. So I feel like that's our way of bonding Shayla.
Doug:it's been such a pleasure I know, that's too short.
Shayla:I could talk forever, I know.
Doug:Let's plug the name of the group again and how you spell it and anything else you'd like.
Shayla:So the name of my group is Berg B-U-R-G-H Eats, a-n-d Treats with an explanation point. I told Bubba I will be back with his five top five. He loves fried chicken, so I've been on my fried chicken tour and it's been fun and then hopefully I'll be on Wham-O in the next few weeks. We're just trying to figure out how to fit me in on their lineup. So, figuring that out and also just join. Just join a group and meet new people and and share food and take it to another level. I don't know. You have no idea. I have no idea what the future I wouldn't have never guessed in a million years. I'd be sitting in your doing a podcast with Doug yeah, why not?
Doug:All right, Shayla, I have got one final question for you. I ask every guest the name of the show is the Pittsburgh Dish Right what's the best dish you've eaten this past week?
Shayla:It was at Mon Valley Kitchen. Her name is Jasmine, okay, she is currently serving out of a bar restaurant called Romeo's on Brushton Avenue. She has a brick and mortar in Munhall, pennsylvania. I would have to say she made. She made lamb chops and grits and then my daughter added shrimp, so it was a combination of shrimp, lamb chops and grits, and I'm not a huge grit person, but I tore those grits up. I don't know what she did to those grits Perfection. So definitely that's what the standout dish is for me for this week.
Doug:All right, lamb, chop with grits and maybe add some shrimp yes, I love it.
Shayla:So shout out to jasmine she's, she's, you keep doing a full lady.
Catherine:Keep doing it.
Shayla:Jasmine doing it, she, she cooks for some celebrities, um, she cooks for, um, some of football players, some, um, people that come into the improv. So she's doing her thing too. But you know, unfortunately her kitchen isn't up, but she's still working, and so she wanted. I just felt I just kept hearing about her, hearing about her. So I said hey, I'm coming where you are. So I did, and, and you know, that was just that was the same day I went to the morning show, the breakfast with Bubba and Mel. I went straight from there, sat on air where I was going and went straight to her restaurant.
Doug:And it was worth it. The best dish of the week. Best dish of the week, all right, thanks, so much. Thanks, doug. Up next, when lamb is on the menu, what is the perfect wine pairing? We'll talk about it in our weekly recommend. We want to thank Beano's Deli Condiments for being a sponsor of the Pittsburgh Dish. From your favorite sub or sandwich, or even pizza, beano's has a sauce for you. Follow for more ideas on their Instagram at Beano's Brand. Hey Catherine, how are you?
Jeff:Terrific Doug, Good to see you today.
Doug:Oh, you too. Thanks for coming back on the show. Happily! Catherine, I was recently talking with Shayla Penn, who runs the popular Facebook group Burgh Eats and Treats!, and she was just at a place that served her grits topped with lamb chops instead of shrimp. Now she said her daughter did add shrimp later, but I was wondering about the lamb chop and grit combo and wanted to ask you what would be a good wine recommendation for a dish like that.
Jeff:Well, that's a good question and fortunately I've got a lot of experience in pairing wine with lamb chops, because lamb is one of the go-to proteins that we use in our family for a lot of our holidays Christmas and Easter, it's almost always a leg of lamb.
Doug:Oh, that's so interesting. I don't think I've ever cooked lamb at home. Really, we'll have to table that for another episode.
Jeff:We will, because you're missing out.
Doug:Okay.
Jeff:And lamb chops. Oh, they're so much fun, they're so delicious, they're just so succulent, and the wine to go with those. You can never, ever, ever go wrong with a Bordeaux blend. A Bordeaux blend, yes, and I've got to specify red Bordeaux blend. Okay, in America, when we hear the word Bordeaux, we typically think of a reddish color and not a place.
Doug:Oh, yeah, Bordeaux, France Correct.
Jeff:Yeah, Bordeaux is a region in France and you can get white Bordeaux wines which, to my mind, for a very long time, seemed pretty counterintuitive, like how is white Bordeaux? I don't get it.
Doug:Because they just don't market it like that here in the States.
Jeff:Well, if you are buying a white Bordeaux, you'll see that, but it's just not something that's really kind of in our consciousness so much as American wine drinkers. So Bordeaux is the place. It's not a color, and for lamb chops you want to zero in on one of the red Bordeaux. And what I really love about Bordeaux is that they're always typically like a mixture of different grapes.
Doug:Okay, so that's sort of a nice blend.
Jeff:It is, and French wines tend to be a go-to for me.
Jeff:In the old world they didn't rely on one grape to do all the heavy lifting and to be all of the things in your mouth.
Jeff:The old world style of making wines is really about blending grapes and experiencing what happened out in the vineyards for any particular given year. Different grape varieties have different weather preferences, grow at different rates, mature at different times and when the harvest comes in, the work is really put on the winemaker to taste everything and then to kind of play a fast forward tape in their head and imagine which grapes are going to really complement which other grapes, to bring it together and really have the best expression of what that year's harvest had to offer. Wow, isn't that incredible, it's magic. As far as I'm concerned, I've never been disappointed by a Bordeaux blend. And just to kind of talk a little bit more about what you're going to find in a Bordeaux blend, in France they tend to be very particular about their rules as to what can go into a wine, based on where it's from, and in Bordeaux you're going to see Cabernet Sauvignon, merlot, cabernet Franc, petit Verdot, malbec and Carmenere.
Doug:All as some type of percentage of this Bordeaux blend.
Jeff:Some of them, not all of them. Those are the ones that will show up, in some proportion or another, in most Bordeaux blends.
Doug:This is typically what somebody's playing with, so to speak, to get that right flavor.
Jeff:You can think of it as a recipe. Well, last year I had 51% Cabernet Franc and 32% Malbec, and I put a little Petit Verdot and then finished it off with some Carmenere.
Doug:But this year's harvest was a little bit different, so you're going to have different proportions of all of those things based upon which grapes really shone the brightest and had the best expression of their fruit. What are some of the flavors that you typically pick up when?
Jeff:you're having a Bordeaux Bordeaux, you're going to get a lot of your red and black fruits in that. So cherry, raspberry, strawberry, currant, plum, some of those deeper, rich fruity flavors.
Doug:I love it.
Jeff:And because your Bordeaux blends are also going to be aged in French oak for some period of time, you're going to get maybe a little bit of cedar or tobacco kind of influences from the barrel aging.
Doug:I love it so if I'm having lamb chops in any way on your plate, or especially with my grits, a Bordeaux blend.
Jeff:A Bordeaux blend and if I could make a recommendation for a specific Bordeaux blend, the Mouton Cadet Bordeaux Rouge and rouge is red in French. It's produced by Baron Philippe Rothschild. They're a renowned winemaker. They date way back to 1930. And what I really like about them is that their values are to respect the environment at all stages of making the Mouton-Cadet wines, and I think this really resonates especially in 2024,. They want to meet the challenges of sustainable development. They're working with the earth and working really hard to be harmonious with it.
Doug:I love it. So not only just a good type of wine to get, but this specific maker really ticks a lot of other boxes.
Jeff:They really do.
Doug:Catherine, thank you so much my pleasure Doug.
Doug:Catherine Montest is a local certified wine expert. You can learn more about Catherine at yourfairywinemother. com. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking about my summertime cooking already, and even some of the baking. If you're looking for a seasonal quick bread recipe, our regular listener, Jeff B, has just the recipe this week. Let's have a listen. This week, let's have a listen. Hello, hey, Jeff, it's Doug from the Pittsburgh Dish. Hey, Doug, good to hear from you again, I know. Hey. Thanks so much for submitting another recipe for the blog and I'm really loving this one because I love quick breads and loaves like this. So the recipe I'm calling about is your peach cake recipe. Can you tell me a little bit more about it?
Catherine:Sure, I'd be glad to. I don't want to name a specific company because obviously it's worth advertising and everything out there. But let's just say I got a bulk shipment of peaches in and anybody that orders peaches in bulk knows who I'm talking about and I obviously canned a lot of them, knows who I'm talking about and I obviously canned a lot of them. But I was getting tired of like the same old. You know peach jelly or peach ice cream. So my parents like banana bread. So I figured I would branch out and I looked and I found this recipe. It was a great use for the peaches and I prefer the fresh peaches because it maintains texture. When I've tried it with canned peaches, you get a little bit more soggy texture when you're using the fresh peaches because it maintains texture. When I've tried it with canned peaches, you get a little bit more soggy texture. When you're using the fresh peaches you can actually see the outline of the sugar inside the peach bread and that makes a huge difference.
Doug:I like that. You mentioned that you could use canned peaches if we're out of season, but it's really better with fresh, and you use about three peaches if they're fresh peaches. Is that right?
Catherine:Yes, I don't know if people are familiar. You have to blanch the peaches. You place the peaches in boiling water, count to 30, 30 seconds. You see 30 seconds to a minute. You have to have a vat of ice, cold water with ice in it. You put the peaches in that water and then you'll see the skin of the peach start to peel off. You just finish peeling the peach. It'll come off in a towel and then you have a completely peeled peach.
Doug:That is a professional tip. I love that, yeah. And then the batter is kind of like on basic, like loaf bread, and then you divide the peaches up, and how long do you bake these loaves of peach bread for?
Catherine:About an hour. Okay, about an hour.
Doug:All right, it sounds delicious. I can't wait to get my hands on some fresh peaches and make this recipe myself. Jeff, thanks so much. Well, thank you for having me.
Doug:All right, take care. You can share a recipe with us, listen to past episodes and even become a paying supporter of the show at our website, www. pittsburghdish. com. Well, that's our show for this week. We want to thank all of our guests and contributors, and to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Stay tuned.