Food Writer Fridays – Rebecca Subbiah from ChowandChatter.com

I think most food lovers know Rebecca Subbiah from Chow and Chatter and if you don’t, she’s someone you should meet. She’s up to the minute with every social media opportunity to promote her love of food through her blog.  She uses twitter, facebook, pinterest, YouTube and she’s even on blogtalk radio.  She leaves no stone unturned in marketing chowandchatter.com.

She even has a new Recipe App available on iTunes.  I tell you she has her fingers in every pie!

She’s also a video lover. When I invited her to participate in the Food Writer Fridays series she’s the only one who replied to my query with a video. I was grinning from ear to ear watching her answer all my questions. She answered them with a big smile and immense friendliness.

When I first joined Twitter she was one of the first to make me feel welcome and offered her guidance when it all seemed a bit overwhelming. “I have to do what?” I asked and she took her precious time away from her work and her children to give me advice. Not everyone will do that for a total stranger who lives on the other side of the world.

Rebecca lives in the United States but as the Aussies say, “she’s a pom!” from England. That’s a good thing to say, by the way. One listen to any of her videos will reveal her lovely accent.

Growing up she hated zucchini (courgettes) but now it’s one of her favorite vegetables.  I found this recipe for zucchini bread on her website. It’s made with two cups of shredded zucchini.  Quick breads are a great way to get veggies into children.  Rebecca knows all about nutrition as she’s a registered dietitian in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Most of us have busy lives but trying to keep up with her blog, her nearly 7,000 Twitter followers, her Facebook followers, her Pinterest followers PLUS her two children (one of which is barely 6 months old), well I’m tired just thinking about it.  Amazingly not only does she manage but she manages very well, thank you very much.

Her food hero is Dan Lepard.  Not only does she admire his baking talent, his cookbooks and everything else he does, she loves how friendly he is and how he respects everyone in spite of being bigger than big in the food world.  She tweets with him frequently.

One of my questions is what part of blogging do you like best.  Is it the cooking, the photography or the writing and Rebecca came up with option 4.  She enjoys the networking that blogging allows her to meet people from around the world.  If she could, she’d travel to Italy tonight to have a wonderful pizza with a thin crust or some pasta.  Remember she’s a dietitian so I’m sure whatever she chose off the menu would be healthy.

She loves risotto and sees it as a blank canvas because of all the flavors you can incorporate. “It’s a great one pot meal.”  With all she has “on her plate” a one pot meal would be ideal.  You’ll find a few risotto recipes on her blog.  I really like this Heirloom Tomato and Squash Risotto.  She’ll tell you that when it comes to photography and food styling, that’s going to be “down the road” when the needs of the children aren’t so demanding.  I look at that photo and I could eat that risotto.

If she could have dinner with three people, the first would be Gordon Ramsay and sitting next to him would be Dan Lepard and then number three would be all her twitter friends including me.  I want you to know if 7,000 people are sharing one meal, I want to be first at the plate.  She’s a very funny woman.

When asked what cooking style or cuisine she would like to be known for, she said:

“I can’t put it down to one.  I do cook a lot of Indian food because my husband is Indian and I’m fairly good at it these days but I want to be a global chef.”

If Rebecca could only have three spices to cook with, she’d choose chili, cumin and coriander.  I did a quick stroll through her recipe list and she’s right, she likes these three.

Her lamb curry is made with lamb shanks or chops and green chilies, cumin seeds and ground coriander along with other yummy things like garam masala and frozen grated coconut.

None of these three spices are included in her favorite go-to quick and easy meal – spaghetti bolognese.  I had small children way back in the last century and that would have been my choice too.  Want to know how she makes it?  Here’s her link to Rainbow Spaghetti Bolognese.

Her advice to new food bloggers is pretty simple.  Be yourself.  Enjoy your passion and network with other food writers.  I agree with her 100% when she says that if she wanted nothing but recipes she’s go to the New York Times.  People visit the blogs to be entertained with funny anecdotes and a window into the lives of ordinary people.

I’m envious of her clean as she cooks ability.  I try but I always seem to get to the photography bit and everything falls to hell in a handbasket.  I should visit Rebecca and follow her around during a cooking session for her blog.

She thinks bloggers / food writers will become increasingly influential because we’re all journalists.  She was given a press pass recently to a culinary conference her town that proved that point.

Rebecca didn’t give me a recipe to post here so I went to her blog and pinched one.  Hopefully she’s not going to mind.  This is a food blog and we’ve gotta have food, right?

If you’d like to watch her answer the questions on video, it’s here.