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Hello, and happy 2025!
I hope all of you have had a holiday season full of food and loved ones, and that you’re feeling good about what 2025 has to offer. I’m returning to my desk and my kitchen feeling excited to help you love your steam ovens even more, and to push your cooking a little further.
We’re kicking things off on a green theme today; green because it signifies new beginnings and freshness, which seem appropriate for January. But also green because the sauce I’m sharing with you is downright fabulous to eat, and beautiful to boot. It stars steamed kale, which may sound very…blah, but I assure you it’s not at all!
I’ll be doing some planning for Steam Oven Insiders content in the coming weeks, and looking back over what’s been popular with you all during the past year, so I can do more of that. If there are recipes you want to see, topics you want to know more about, or feedback you’d like to share about the format or benefits of your Insiders subscription, I’d love to hear from you. I always value your opinions and requests, and want to make Insiders invaluable to your steam oven experience in 2025.
See you again on the 30th!
Emily x
New to Cook
Kale and Ricotta Pasta
Even if it’s not your favorite leafy green, the transformation kale undergoes in this easy recipe makes it something altogether different from its curly, fibrous origins. Silky and bright green, the sauce is offset by the cool milkiness of ricotta dotted throughout. It’s a winning combination, and I firmly believe the kale sauce and ricotta would be just as good friends with roasted pumpkin or steamed potatoes if you’re seeking a non-pasta version of the dish.
The Season Flip
A couple of seasonal things that are floating my boat right now.
Southern Hemisphere
I’m obviously going hard on the ‘greens and creamy cheese’ vibe this issue, because along with my new kale pasta recipe, I’ve returned to last year’s steamed green veg with chilli and soft cheese in the past couple of weeks. My garden (and my garden-loving local friend’s place) is full of zucchini, peas and beans, so this recipe has been made more than a few times, using different soft cheeses and assortments of veg.
Northern Hemisphere
Is it cheating that I consider this a wintery recipe and yet I still make it year-round? I hope not. Some of you are familiar with the delights of this dump-and-cook braised beef, but if you’re not, I HIGHLY recommend you give it a try. If you can’t find beef ribs, no problem. Use chuck, shin or even beef cheek instead, and adjust your cooking times to suit longer- or shorter-cooking cuts.
A Thing I'm Loving
I received Alice Zaslavsky’s new book, Salad For Days, as a Christmas gift, and I really love it. Full of bright, beautiful colors, punchy recipes and lots of tips for adapting and making the recipes your own, it definitely earns a place in my ‘high rotation pile’ as I work my way through the pages I’ve sticky-noted. Lots of the recipes are natural adaptations to steam or combi steam (especially the wintery ones), which is a lovely bonus. So far my favorite dish needs no cooking beyond toasting a few nuts; it’s Alice’s reimagining of the humble fruit salad, complete with salty-sweet macadamias.
Ask Me Anything (AMA)
Just like this time last year, I haven’t got any AMA questions this issue. I hope that means you were all relaxing and enjoying the holidays! Nevertheless, here’s your opportunity to ask me anything you like related to combi steam cooking.
I encourage you to submit questions, no matter how small, and do my best to answer as many as possible. Though I can’t always get to every single question, I carefully curate ones which are relevant and represent a variety of topics. We all learn from each other, and I often learn new things based on questions from all of you!
If you have an AMA question, please email it to [email protected]. Make sure you include the phrase INSIDERS AMA in the subject line so I can collate and read all your submissions.
