The Pittsburgh Dish
021 Emily Foster's Self Reliant Seitan Innovation
(01:09) What if you could reinvent your culinary skills and create mouthwatering plant-based meats from your kitchen? Discover the inspiring story behind Self Reliant Seitan with our guest, Emily Foster. Emily shares her transformative journey—from a home cook to the founder of a thriving small business known for its handmade seitan products. Learn what sets her creations apart, from delicious breakfast patties to hearty steak strips and chorizo. Emily’s seitan is winning hearts at local farmer's markets and beyond.
(11:40) Emily's path to entrepreneurial success is filled with invaluable lessons and insights. Hear her experiences with the Fulton Commons Food Accelerator Program, which provided resources and expertise to help her small business flourish. And don't miss her new recipe-of-the-month initiative, aiming to showcase the versatility of her products in dishes you wouldn’t expect.
(21:48) Also on the show, discover a reliable neighborhood eatery from one of Pittsburgh's social media mavens, Ana.Eats.Pgh. Plus a mint pesto recipe and swordfish tips from a savvy Sicilian cook.
(01:09) What if you could reinvent your culinary skills and create mouthwatering plant-based meats from your kitchen? Discover the inspiring story behind Self Reliant Seitan with our guest, Emily Foster. Emily shares her transformative journey—from a home cook to the founder of a thriving small business known for its handmade seitan products. Learn what sets her creations apart, from delicious breakfast patties to hearty steak strips and chorizo. Emily’s seitan is winning hearts at local farmer's markets and beyond.
(11:40) Emily's path to entrepreneurial success is filled with invaluable lessons and insights. Hear her experiences with the Fulton Commons Food Accelerator Program, which provided resources and expertise to help her small business flourish. And don't miss her new recipe-of-the-month initiative, aiming to showcase the versatility of her products in dishes you wouldn’t expect.
(21:48) Also on the show, discover a reliable neighborhood eatery from one of Pittsburgh's social media mavens, Ana.Eats.Pgh. Plus a mint pesto recipe and swordfish tips from a savvy Sicilian cook.
Welcome to the Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. How does having an aversion to cooking raw meat in your home kitchen lead to a thriving side hustle business? We'll learn about it from this week's guest. Want to add another reliable neighborhood spot to your restaurant list? Ana Eats Pittsburgh stops by and gives us one on her list. And do you have an abundance of mint running amok in your summer garden? We put it all to good use this week in a mint pesto. All that ahead, stay tuned. This week's episode is supported by Chip and Kale plant-based meals. Chip and Kale offers healthy plant-based meals. Chip and Kale offers healthy plant-based meals with a menu that changes weekly, ranging from entrees to sweets. Learn how it works and place your order at chipandkalecom. Now onto the show. Thank you so much for coming over and being on the show. Would you introduce yourself and what you have going on right now in the world of food?
Emily:Sure, thanks for having me. I'm Emily Foster. I'm the owner and founder of Self Reliant Seitan, so we make small batch handmade plant-based meats. We currently sell direct to consumer at farmer's markets and pickups and deliveries. Yeah, and we just started our farmer's market season in May, so we're at the Squirrel Hill Farmer's Market Sunday mornings.
Doug:I love it. Perfect timing for this season. Yes, I love summer farmer's markets, me too, and Squirrel Hill one is a pretty serious farmer's market.
Emily:Yeah, it is a good one, it's my fave.
Doug:Oh, yes, okay. So let's just tell our listeners listeners for folks out there that aren't familiar with a product like yours what is seitan and can you? You make it right can you? Give us just a little, you know. Lesson on seitan sure?
Emily:so seitan is a plant-based meat substitute. Um, it's primarily made of wheat gluten. Um, the gluten is the protein part of the wheat grain. So, um, when you isolate that and use that, it makes it a very high protein meat substitute yes um, gluten is also the thing that gives bread its chewiness.
Emily:So when you use like gluten flour it's very chewy and gives a very good texture. That's very meat, like um. So to make it, yeah, you use the vital wheat gluten flour, which is like pure gluten. You add I add beans to most of my varieties. It kind of lightens it up, lightens up the density.
Doug:Oh, that's cool. Can I ask what kind of beans go in?
Emily:Sure, a lot of our varieties have different kinds of beans, so our chicken has chickpeas our beef has black beans, the steak has white beans. So yeah, it depends on.
Doug:I love that, and it just gives it a better texture.
Emily:Better texture like even more protein, more fiber and it just gives it a better texture. Better texture like even more protein more fiber.
Doug:Yeah, you're enhancing the normal seitan recipe.
Emily:Yes, I think it's something that sets us apart, like I've heard that other seitan can get quite dense, I've had seitan that's quite dense, so the beans really lighten it up and make it like, yeah, better experience.
Doug:And so I will just say, as a side for someone that's gluten intolerant, this is not the product for them.
Emily:No, it is. Yeah, not for gluten free people, unfortunately.
Doug:But for someone that's trying to live a plant based lifestyle or just incorporate a little less of the meat industry into their world, this is like the perfect product. And you don't just stop there with making seitan and the way that you make it at home. You just mentioned you have a lot of varieties. Can you describe some of the different options that you sell for folks that haven't found you yet?
Emily:sure I'd love to um. We have six varieties right now, so we do chicken um beef steak, breakfast patties, bacon, and I just started selling the chorizo a few months ago goodness, the chorizo is super flavorful. It's got an amazing like spice mixture, like smoked paprika, mexican oregano, cinnamon, cumin, clove. Yeah, it's amazing.
Doug:You're making me excited. I have made a veggie chorizo chili before, but probably it was just too too crumbly, Like I bet the texture that you're getting is like bigger pieces, a little bit better.
Emily:Yep, yep, yep. It's still in crumbles, but it will like hold, hold together in something like that. Definitely can be used for, yeah, like tacos mixing in with your breakfast, like yeah, I love it. Just to describe our other varieties the chicken, like I mentioned before, has chickpeas. It's got like onion, garlic powder and miso. That one's our most versatile because it's like a subtler flavor, so you can use it cold in like sandwiches and salads, like it's cooked already, and you can technically eat it um, just cold.
Doug:but it also holds the sauce really well, holds like like barbecue or stuff like that yeah, oh my gosh, like I want to cook with this, now that you're describing I made like chicken tiki masala, like yeah yes yeah, yeah, it really is very versatile. Is that, would you say, that's one of your best sellers.
Emily:The chicken and our bacon is my other best seller.
Doug:Oh, I got to try your bacon and I have to say I would be happy to have that any day.
Emily:Thank you yeah.
Doug:People really love it. It um, I do.
Emily:I make it like striped you know to make it look like bacon, so it's got like I use like a red dough and a white dough and kind of layer them and then slice it so that it's got, yeah, and that has like liquid smoke, smoked paprika, tomato paste, onion, garlic. Yeah, it's really flavorful and, yeah, one of our best sellers.
Doug:All right. So if someone finds you either on your website or at the farmer's market, you sort of have these products like wrapped up in compostable wrap. It looks really cool and can they order ahead if they want to like find you at, say, the farmer's market.
Emily:Yep, we've got ordering on our website and then when you order online, there's options to pick up at the farmer's market. We also do pickups in Munhall or delivery within the Pittsburgh city limits.
Doug:Oh, this is so exciting to me. You know, on a personal side, my husband likes to eat vegetarian or vegan, so this is like a whole new world for me. But I think for a lot of folks listening out there, it's just probably something they haven't explored yet and you're making it familiar and accessible. But you're also doing it in your own way, which I love, like that recipe with the beans and the custom spices. Yeah, so good.
Emily:Yeah, yeah. The beauty of seitan, I think, is that it it is so accessible. I really think you don't have to be vegan to eat seitan. To me, I think it helped me go vegan, because I am a very sentimental eater, I think a lot of us are. I didn't want to miss out on my family recipes or things that I grew up eating, that you get a craving for time to time when you want a comfort meal, so I'll use like my beef crumbles to make beef and like tomato shells or ravioli or stuffed shells.
Emily:I've used the chicken to do like just fried chicken. Oh yeah, yeah wait, have you?
Doug:have you like breaded it and fried it then? Oh yeah so does it get nice and crispy it does.
Emily:Yeah, oh yeah. It really holds up of like you can just do like the batter and fry it.
Doug:Oh my gosh, You're melting my brain.
Emily:It is really so good.
Doug:Oh, so good.
Emily:But yeah, I didn't want to. When I went vegan, like I just didn't want to feel like I was missing out and seitan really helps me feel like I'm not.
Doug:Yeah, so so, emily. So back us up then. So number one I wanted to ask where did you grow up?
Emily:I grew up outside of Buffalo, new York, okay, upstate, new.
Doug:York, and so how long have you been here in the Pittsburgh area?
Emily:Almost 11 years it's been a while. Yeah, definitely consider myself a Pittsburgher now.
Doug:Okay, and you were saying earlier that you didn't want to miss out on some of the family type of recipes.
Emily:Can you us a little bit like, what was food like growing up? Like, did you have big family gatherings or any special dishes? We always did dinner at the table. My mom loved to cook. Um, so yeah, we, we cook dinner at home most of the time, but definitely standard american diet. Okay um hamburger helper, shake and bake a lot of meat based meals the, the meat, veggie carb plate I mean I still which I still make with seitan yeah, I mean in heart of, in heart of hearts.
Doug:You've got a meat, a starch and a green vegetable and you're, that's a dinner. Yep, yep. And so did you cook much yourself growing up.
Emily:I moved in, moved out and was living on my own that I was like had to cook, yeah, and then I just fell in love with it. All right, pretty instantly, like just wanted to like start experimenting and trying new things.
Doug:So tell me, when did like a plant based lifestyle sort of come into play?
Emily:Actually, when I moved out and started cooking on my own, I realized that I just also was like squeamish around raw meat. Oh yeah, it's not that, I just also was like squeamish around raw meat Like. It's not that I. I didn't start from an ethical standpoint of you know veganism, I just didn't want to cook with it.
Doug:You didn't want to cook it at home. You're like ah, salmonella, botulism, it's slimy, it's just slimy. Weird to touch.
Emily:I'm like someone else cook it for me and I I would eat meat but, um, yeah, didn't want to cook it at home, so I started just being vegetarian at home. And then, you know, eventually it was like let's be vegetarian full time. And kind of the same thing happened with veganism, where I was vegan at home and then when the pandemic happened and I was no longer eating outside the home, I'm like, well, I I'll just you know, commit and be fully vegan the whole way.
Emily:Yep, so technically only till 2020, but it was a long journey getting there. Yeah, like gradual, gradual changes.
Doug:Now you said it mostly started first because you didn't want to cook with like meat at home. Have you learned since then? You know, is it ethical or some like health conscious reasons that you like doing it?
Emily:Yeah. The cool thing is that, like the rest of it kind of followed yeah. So I started from yeah, not wanting to cook meat, and then also got into environmentalism and you know how, how meat and animal agriculture ties into that, and then once I went vegan, you know, I think also like once you go vegan, you're getting like vegan content online. You start seeing that and If I can be vegan like, then there's no reason to not be.
Doug:Yeah, makes sense, yeah.
Emily:I really couldn't justify going back, because it's like I was able to do it and like successfully and I didn't feel like I was missing out and like and really what I'm enjoying it.
Doug:Yeah, I sort of was thinking off the cuff too. How do you find I don't know how much you eat out of the home now? What do you think about living a vegan lifestyle in Pittsburgh itself? Do you find a lot of options beyond what you're doing? Or was that one of the reasons you started doing what you're doing?
Emily:It wasn't one of the reasons, but it is one of the reasons that keeps me going. Like I want to provide another like vegan option in the Pittsburgh area. I know in the past like few years we've lost a few vegan restaurants.
Doug:We loved B-52. I love B-52.
Emily:Oh yeah, and I go to Allegro often and I'm glad they have some of the same sandwiches and stuff there, but it's not quite the same.
Doug:Right, right, they had the same owner right yeah, same owner as Allegro Hearth.
Emily:Yeah.
Doug:That's right. So I have another sort of curiosity question. It sounds like you have a passion for what you're doing. Is this your full-time job or do you do something else in real life?
Emily:It is not yet my full-time job. I do have a day job, so this has been kind of my side hustle for like three years now.
Doug:I am very aware of like taking my time and setting myself up for success, because I know from stories of other small business owners that it's very easy to burn out. You're doing it in a really smart way.
Emily:Yeah.
Doug:Yeah, what's the rush? What's?
Emily:the rush. This is Emily Foster of Self Reliance, satan, and you're listening to the Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug:So, emily, we should talk about how you and I met. Sure, you have been doing, or just wrapped up, a program at Fulton Commons, which, if anyone doesn't know Fulton, it's sort of a co-working space with this really amazing kitchen in the basement. And what was the program that you were participating in?
Emily:It was the Fulton Commons Food Accelerator Program, so it's specifically for customer packaged goods and they are really trying to help small businesses grow and learn the landscape of being a business. Yeah, it's a, it's a great resource.
Doug:So I I love this and I was asked to kind of come over and hear some of your pitches and you did such an amazing job and I should say everybody there was doing such a great job. I think we heard like seven or eight people have their pitch. Could you explain a little bit about what you experienced in that program, Like, did you have speakers or workshops or cohort work? How did it go?
Emily:Yeah, the format was every week we would have a different speaker come in or multiple speakers come in and speak on one topic. So the topics included things like legal finances, marketing, branding.
Doug:I also heard that one of our mutual friends, chloe Newman, came in to speak, and if anyone doesn't know Chloe, she first started out with Crustworthy, which was her bread company. She's one of the partners at Third Space Bakery, still baking her bread there. What did she have to say?
Emily:Yeah, chloe came in to talk about sourcing sourcing of ingredients. That was very helpful. She also talked about her story of starting crust worthy and then, you know, transitioning into being a co-owner of third space and just where they source their ingredients, like down to like, yeah, food ingredients, but also like supplies. It was super interesting and it's something that I've definitely was interested in learning about.
Doug:Yeah, I love that. Sure, we can, you know, be at a farmer's market and talk to our friend or neighbor there about what their experience is, but this program is really like a curated, thoughtful, well-rounded way of experience sharing. So someone like Chloe coming in and telling you how she does it and some of the hurdles she's been through, may not have been a full story that some of your other attendees or cohort members would ever have heard of.
Emily:Yep, definitely. Yeah, it's. It's cool to get the like behind the scenes. Like there's so much that goes into a small business and you can hear someone's story of like you know how they, how they started or why they started. But to get into the nitty gritty of like these are the steps that I had to take to, like set up my business to be successful. Like that was so helpful through the program to hear other businesses experiences.
Doug:And even where you are. At this point, you are selling at a farmer's market. You're making your product. What have you learned so far about creating your own small business, making your product? What have you learned so far about creating your own small?
Emily:business. What are some big lessons learned for you? Oh yeah, Um, I think the big lessons learned are just like how many pieces there are to it right. Like even getting started up, like you have to get into commercial kitchen space and you have to get like your you know, permit and insurance and you can't just be cooking in your house.
Emily:Exactly If you're doing baked goods, which would have been great but, yes, but, um you, you would have to like get your house inspected in that case as well. But yeah, being in a commercial kitchen and getting that set up was like a whole process and what about even learning how to make seitan on your own?
Doug:I thought I recall a story where your friend wanted some too and offered to buy it off you if you were willing to make it.
Emily:Yeah, exactly yeah. I had been making seitan for since like 2015,. Like around the time when I started cooking on my own, I like found it online and, you know, just started making it and experimenting with it. Okay, so I already loved making seitan. And then, yeah, in 2021, I was talking to my friend and you know she's vegan and I know she loves seitan and I asked her. I was like you know, why don't you like make it more often? Like you don't really, you don't really make it. And she's like yeah, it's a process. You know, usually it's like one to two hours to make it and then it's better the next day, so you have to let it sit overnight. Like it's a lot of planning. And she's like well, you know, if you make it, like I would buy it from you. And I was like oh, okay.
Emily:Like sure.
Emily:I love doing it, and then I also love feeding people. So it started that way. I started selling to friends and family and it just kind of snowballed from there.
Doug:That was the light bulb moment.
Emily:Oh I love it.
Doug:What a story. And you mentioned that you had to do a pitch at the end of this program, so can you tell us a little bit about that, like, what were you sharing with us? It felt a little like Shark Tank, but not terrible.
Emily:With like friendlier sharks.
Doug:Yeah, and we had no money to give you. Yeah, but tell us you know, what did you consider to put into that presentation and what were some of the things you shared?
Emily:Sure, I really wanted to just convey my story, like why I'm doing what I'm doing, like why it's so important to me, and then also like where I've been and where I'm going. Yeah, right.
Doug:And I think you have a really good, even the financial plan. You talked a lot that evening also about the importance of compostable packaging and trying to, you know, not create a bunch of new litter doing this. I thought it was all very well considered, so well done, Thank you.
Emily:Yeah, I've. I like to be very intentional and like that bleeds into the business of just being very intentional about, yeah, the packaging, the marketing, like the branding, and you know what I'm putting out into the world as self-reliant Satan.
Doug:And I will just say I love the logo, which is sort of like a knife over a wheat piece of wheat. I don't want to say that and I loved it, Keep it.
Emily:I think that was great. Yeah, I'm trying to give like a vegan butcher vibe, but like it's the wheat. Yeah, it's a butcher, knife.
Doug:Well, emily, that gets me thinking. You know we've talked a little bit about where you are and you are taking it slow, but I would like to ask you what are the future goals, or future plans? Where do you see it going?
Emily:Yeah, I definitely have a vision. The end goal is to have a plant-based vegan deli in Pittsburgh, so I want to have a deli counter where you can, you know, buy the vegan meats but also get like a deli sandwich, Like I I love. One of my favorite foods is just like a turkey hoagie.
Doug:Yeah.
Emily:Like just a turkey sub with, like you know, the shredded lettuce and oil vinegar, like that is my favorite and that's what I want to make with seitan, and, yeah, offer that to the world.
Doug:You're blowing my mind. So I think this is the first I've ever heard really of the idea of a vegan deli. Have you been to a vegan deli?
Emily:I have, so they exist, they exist in a lot of other cities, but they don't exist here.
Emily:They need to exist here.
Doug:You, emily Foster, have found a gap in the market. I have, yeah, and I'm already I'm envisioning for you. Hey, where are you going to get your bread? And you know there's other partnerships there, definitely I love this, so vegan deli in the future. Any other big plans?
Emily:Yeah, steps along the way to get there are, um, definitely keeping like still continuing to sell my like package seitan for people to take home and cook. I don't want to be just a like storefront. Like I want people to take the products home and cook with them still yes.
Emily:Um. So part of the goal of taking the Fulton commons accelerator program was to get my products in stores, so selling at the East End Food Co-op, maybe Mayfly or like your local markets. Hopefully we'll be in those stores and even more accessible to people who want to find us and then in the future also pivoting to the prepared food so markets and events doing the prepared food there, since people have also have an option to get the packaged food in stores.
Doug:Again, I am so excited for all of this Me too, you reminded me, can folks find your products in any shops right now like being used?
Emily:Not packaged to buy in stores, but there is one. The one business who is using our products is 350 Bakery in. Mount Oliver. So if you go there you can get a vegetarian breakfast sandwich with our seitan breakfast patties on them it also has like pepper, jam on it.
Doug:It sounds so good yes, it's the cutest little shop.
Emily:Go there, yeah yeah, they're super nice there too.
Doug:I highly recommend yes, mount oliver in itself is just. There's things happening yeah, there is. Yeah, it's awesome I am so excited for you, number one one. I'm going to go to 350 and get one of your, one of the biscuits with your breakfast sausage. That definitely needs to happen. All right, Emily, say it for us again what's it called Self-reliant Satan? If people want to find and follow you, where can they find you in terms of your social handles or your website?
Emily:We are on Instagram and Facebook, so the Instagram handle is selfrelianceatanpgh and Facebook it's the same. If you search selfrelianceatan, we have our website, which is a Big Cartel website, so it's selfrelianceatanbigcartelcom and that's where you would go to like place an order. We also have an FAQ if you have any other questions.
Doug:Nice.
Emily:Yeah, place an order. We also have an FAQ if you have any other questions. Nice, yeah, and you can also find us at the Squirrel Hill Farmer's Market.
Doug:Yes, sunday mornings, sunday mornings that's right Nine to one. Okay, all right, emily, we're coming to the end of our time together. I have one more question for you. The name of the show is the Pittsburgh Dish. What's one of the best dishes you've eaten this past week? What's one of the best?
Emily:dishes you've eaten this past week. This past week, I actually made our recipe of the month, which is our steak fajitas, so it's our steak strips. I made it with, you know, peppers and onions and on tortillas, and it was amazing.
Doug:And this is your seitan. Yes, plug it. Recipe of the month. Do you do recipes of the month on your website?
Emily:Yeah, we just recently started this year doing recipes of the month, just to like show people how to, you know, make our seitan, or like what to do with it give people some ideas. So and I love it because I also get to make it so that I can like photograph it and share it.
Doug:So smart. I love it. Emily Foster, thank you so much for being on the Pittsburgh Dish. Thank you so on the hunt for another reliable neighborhood restaurant, Anna Anthony stopped by the studio and gave us one of her favorites. Hey, Anna, thanks for coming back on the show.
Ana:Hi, doug, I love being here.
Doug:Aw, we love having you. I was just wondering if you have a local spot when you really maybe haven't thought about it too much or you don't want to travel too far. Is there a restaurant that's sort of a nice go-to for you?
Ana:You know I have one, of course, Sa serafinos H homestyle Italian in Crafton. Yes, they're one of my favorite Italian go-to spots.
Doug:Yeah, I like Sarafinos. I've been there a few times.
Ana:Can we talk about their bread and oil? The oil yeah like I would go there for that alone and honestly I'm even thinking right now how good would some takeout be of just bread and oil so this is like a, this is like a dipping oil, and I think it might have little small pieces of like sundried tomato and I'm I've always tried to like pinpoint what exactly is going on in it. I don't even know at this point, but it's so good.
Doug:Don't bother, just go no.
Ana:And the bread is like a big whole piece. What is?
Doug:that it's like a bowl Sourdough or something. It's like a big round bowl of bread.
Ana:I think it's mediterra, too, which really helps. And it's hot and steamy and it goes so well with the oil. But they have other good food too.
Doug:I love the beans and greens there.
Ana:Yes, that's a staple. You have to get it every single time. To be honest, like when I go there, I don't just order one single thing. I always look at their specials menu and I dabble in it and I'm always happy.
Doug:Oh, so good.
Ana:I think when I've gone for lunch.
Doug:I love all the paninis with, like, the pasta salad. Like you don't expect that you're going to get this much food in a lunch portion, right.
Ana:There's steak. Have you ever had the steak panini? No, I don't know if it's called the steak panini, but it's very, very good. That's my go-to there.
Doug:And any pasta dishes that have stood out that you've had in the past.
Ana:Okay, I might be mispronouncing this, but it was a special in the fall it was a butternut squash cavatelli. I believe that's how you pronounce that and it blew my mind. I was on the fence about getting it and I've never tried that style of pasta before, but it was like little pockets of love.
Doug:Yes, they usually. You know, the nonna usually rolls it with the thumb.
Ana:Yeah, oh, so delicious, so good.
Doug:All right, Sa serafinos. What's the true full name?
Marcella:I believe it's Sarafinos Homestyle Italian, but everyone in the area just knows it as Sarafinos.
Doug:Down in Crafton, In Crafton. Thanks so much.
Ana:Ana, thanks, doug.
Doug:You can follow Ana on Instagram at Ana. eats. pgh. If you're following my personal social media at Doug Cooking, you know I'm one of the contestants on this season of the Great American Recipe on PBS. We're continuing a special series by calling each of the other contestants. This week we talk to Marcella DiChiara, just outside of Boston, and learn about her mint pesto and some really good pointers for swordfish. Let's give her a call and learn a little bit more about this dish.
Marcella:Hi Doug.
Doug:Hi Marcella, how are you?
Marcella:I'm good. How are you?
Doug:I'm great. Thanks so much for the recipe and for being on the Pittsburgh Dish.
Marcella:I am so excited.
Doug:I wanted to talk a little bit more about this pesto recipe. I know you are an amazing cook. I've seen some of your stuff on Instagram. Tell our listeners if they haven't seen the recipe card yet. What makes this pesto maybe a little bit different than the standard basil pesto?
Marcella:So really what makes this stand out is obviously the mint. So pesto the word pesto actually just comes from the Italian verb pestare, which means to crush, so really you can take any herb and make it into a pesto and some vegetables. Obviously, we see tomato-based pestos, we see basil-based pestos, caper-based pestos, so pesto is really just a sort of generic term. But what I love about this pesto is that it is so mint-forward and the combination of that mint with pretty much any seafood is really just for for me like a quintessential summer dish.
Doug:Oh, that sounds amazing and I just want to ask then too. So it has the mint, it still has some basil. And then I also noticed you said you could use pine nuts or pistachios, and I love pistachios, they're like my favorite. Which do you tend to use more often?
Marcella:It depends what I have. I always prefer pistachios. As you know, I'm Sicilian. Sicily is actually the pistachio capital of the world.
Doug:I did not know this. I did not know this.
Marcella:There is one particular region in Sicily where their whole industry is pistachios. Industry is pistachios, so if I have a choice and I have them on hand, I always go pistachio. I like to keep it even a little bit crunchy, so I don't I don't pulverize it all the way just to give it some texture.
Doug:Oh, I'm pro pistachio as well, and so I loved what you said about the application to like putting it on like a summer dish of fish or something. If you were using this for like a fish dish of fish or something, if you were using this for like a fish dish, could you give us an example? Like, would you just like put like a dollop on it on like a grilled fish, or or how would you? How would you serve it?
Marcella:I typically serve the mint pesto with swordfish and, um, what I tend to do is I will make some of the pesto and I'll let the fish actually marinate in it for an hour or so and I'll reserve some additional pesto to garnish it. What that does is it really just kind of gives you know the flavors an opportunity to really, you know, embed with the fish, and I always prefer grilling in the summer. So if it's summer and it's grilling season, I'm always going to grill my swordfish. One thing that I do differently with swordfish and I know that in the United States this is not common at all because when you typically go to a fish market or a grocery store to buy swordfish, they come in quite substantial steaks. They're quite thick.
Marcella:In Sicily swordfish is actually cut thin. So the swordfish that we see in the United States, in Sicily they would actually cut that right across and you would get two thin steaks versus the one steak that you would get at the grocery store in the United States. So I actually always request the person behind the counter to cut it and they think that I'm insane. But, believe me, it is so much better. You wouldn't think that it would make such a profound difference. But cutting your swordfish thin, first of all, it cooks quicker. Cutting your swordfish thin, first of all, it cooks quicker. The consistency of the meat is just a lot flakier and it just feels lighter.
Doug:Well, and typically, if folks aren't familiar too, I see a lot of swordfish steaks that are maybe half an inch, so you're saying maybe more like a quarter-inch thickness. If you can get someone to do that for you or do it at home, they don't love doing it for me.
Marcella:Every time I ask I sometimes get pushed back, but you just kind of have to insist.
Doug:Right, and if they want to make the customer happy, they will. I love this. So, marcella, just to recap, we have a pesto that's made with some of the traditional stuff, like basil, but also lots of mint and pistachio. You marinate that swordfish thinly cut and then you know, grill it nice and hot and serve maybe a little bit more of the mint pesto on the side.
Marcella:That's right and it goes well and pairs with any grilled summer vegetable that's in season. You could even use any reserve pesto to toss in a pasta and it could be a cold pasta dish or a hot pasta dish, but it's, it's very, very flavorful. It's just reminiscent to me of everything that I love about summer.
Doug:Oh well, I love this dish and I'm excited to try and make this, marcella, before I let you go. If people want to find and follow you for more of your food, where could they find you and follow?
Marcella:you for more of your food. Where could they find you? I can be reached on Instagram. My handle is BostonHomeCooking and I can be viewed on the newest season of PBS's hit show, the Great American Recipe, with my friend Doug, and it airs on June 17th at 9 pm on PBS.
Doug:That's right. That's really how we got to know each other, because we did get to cook together or maybe against each other, but it was super fun and folks can also stream it on the PBS app and at pbsorg. I can't wait to see you on the TV.
Marcella:Well, thank you so much, Doug, and thanks for having me on your show.
Doug:Thank you, marcella, and have a great summer.
Marcella:You too.
Doug:We'd love it if you would share a recipe. Just go to our website at wwwpittsburghdishcom and look for our share a recipe form. That's our show for this week. We'd like 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.