Catching Up with Daisy Martinez

Chef Daisy Martinez launched her career in 2005 with her PBS cooking show Daisy Cooks! and a follow-up cookbook based on the show.  Since then some of her major accomplishments include a debut on the Food Network in January 2009 as well as authoring two additional cookbooks, Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night and Daisy’s Holiday Cooking.  She recently sat down with TLK to talk about her favorite food memories, Latin ingredients and essential kitchen survival tips.

TLK: What three words best describe your food style?

Sassy, comforting and colorful.

TLK: What are your favorite dishes from your childhood?

Whenever I got sick as a child, my mother and grandmother would go to the poultry store and get pigeon to make us a delicious, simple broth with a little bit of rice or a handful of noodles. And because of that, I grew up loving soups.  Nothing is more comforting to me than a good bowl of soup.

TLK: What's one thing in your kitchen you can't live without?

My stove!  I have a Garland stove that came from the firehouse where my father worked.  They were getting rid of it and instead gave it to me and I have had it in my kitchen for the last 20 years.  I can’t live without it and the day I die, it’s coming with me.

TLK: What are your favorite dishes to prepare on that special stove?

In cooler temperatures, I love making fish stews, sancochos, and braising meats.

TLK: What are your favorite Latin ingredients?

Cilantro and achiote.

TLK: Do you have a signature dish (or two)?

My pernil and flan are my favorites. 

Another dish that I am very proud of is a recipe I developed for chicken breast stuffed with a mushroom picadillo and sweet plantain mash served with a mango bacon gravy.  The mushroom picadillo is great on its own and makes a delicious and satisfying vegetarian side dish.

TLK: What are your most memorable moments around the table?

My family sat down every night to have dinner together; 6pm was holy hour at my house.  The everyday comfort of getting together and sharing with my family is what I treasure most.

In addition, when my youngest turned eight years old, my husband and I stopped buying gifts for our children and instead, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, we traveled as a family to different Latin countries and experienced them through their culture, particularly their food.  When I got home from those trips, I tried to recreate those dishes and invariably when I served them, the conversation at the dinner table would turn to all of the things we did when we first experienced the dishes.  I set out to create memories for my children never realizing that the memories would revolve around food.

TLK: Can you offer TLK readers your top three essential kitchen survival tips?

Number 1 – Organization

Number 2 – Organization

Number 3 – Organization

It doesn’t matter if you’re cooking for six or 600, if you have your kitchen and your pantry organized, if you have everything in place, you will execute any dish with minimal stress.  Make lists and schedules and prep ahead of time because you too want to enjoy the food you create along with your guests.  When preparing meals, measure out and place all the ingredients you need for a particular dish all together on a tray so that everything you need is right there when you need it.