846: Hello, Home Cooking with Ham El-Waylly and Obsessed with the Best with Ella Quittner

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

American Public Media

Food, Arts

4.3 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we amp up your home cooking with nostalgic dishes, perfect recipes, and pro cooking techniques. First, we talk with Chef Ham El-Waylly about his favorite dishes that were inspired by his wildly international upbringing and what draws him to comfort foods. From his mom’s cheesy empanadas to his riff on cinnamon toast cereal, he gets imaginative with recipes like his Tahini Roasted Swordfish. Ham El-Waylly is the author of Hello, Home Cooking: Do-Able Dishes for Every Day. Then we dive into the brilliant mind of food writer Ella Quittner, who shares her obsessive search for the perfect techniques to make the very best recipes. She traveled the world to learn how to make buckwheat soba noodles and find the secret to getting the best flavor in tsukune, Japanese chicken meatballs. Ella Quittner’s latest book is Obsessed with The Best, and she left us with her recipe for Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Insurance Cheese.

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Broadcast dates for this episode:

March 27, 2026 (originally aired)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Once upon a mundane morning, Barb's day got busy without warning.
0:04.2	A realtor in need of an open house sign.
0:06.5	No, 50 of them.
0:08.0	And designed before nine.
0:09.4	My head hurts.
0:10.7	Any mighty tools to help with this plight?
0:12.7	Aha!
0:13.5	Barb made her move.
0:14.8	She opened Canada and got in the groove.
0:17.0	Both creating canvas sheets.
0:19.0	Create 50 signs fit for suburban streets.
0:21.9	Done in a click, all complete.
0:23.5	Sweet.
0:24.0	Now, imagine what your dreams can become when you put imagination to work at Canva.com.
0:30.1	McGriddles, a new McDonald's breakfast.
0:32.6	So it's maple syrup infused.
0:34.8	It's sweet, then it's savoury, because the sausage, you know, and the cheese
0:38.4	and the egg. Oh, it's got the golden archie stamped on it too. Make that make sense.
0:42.6	It's hard to put into words, but...
0:44.5	Until 11am, subject to availability, fees apply to delivery orders while stocks last.
0:57.6	I'm Frances Lamb, and this is The Splendid Table from APM.
1:06.4	You know, sometimes the world is small in the nicest little ways.
	...

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