Chefs We Love
April 23, 2024
More, Please! Molly Baz Is Back With Bold And Playful Recipes In Her Newest Cookbook
Molly Baz is a fresh face on the food scene. Born and raised in Upstate New York, the 35-year-old didn’t take the usual route to being an author of two NYT bestselling cookbooks, Cook This Book (2021) and this latest, More is More. Molly didn’t go to culinary school — she learned her trade working at well-known restaurants such as Glasserie and Picholine, then took a leap and became a senior associate food editor at Bon Appétit until 2020. Determined to create recipes that feature her love of big-flavor dishes and promote her brand through social media (she has more than 750,000 Insta followers), Molly is now one of the biggest cookbook authors we know.
We’re sharing five standout recipes from her new book. You’ll want to try the Crispy Potato Skins with Fried Herb Aioli, featuring a dip packed with herbs, garlic, mayo, capers and cornichon brine. Chicken Salad with Coconut Crunch is topped with a peanut-coconut dressing and granola that’s so good you can eat it for breakfast, and Mollz Ballz, made with sausage, beef, ricotta and mint, are not to be missed. Molly chatted with us about her new book and how to really go for it in the kitchen.
Scroll down to learn more about Molly and find the recipes!
House & Home:Why the emphasis on adding and doing more in your recipes?
Molly Baz: I worked in fine dining restaurants, where it’s all about precision and restraint. While I learned everything I could, that style of cooking often left something to be desired. I wanted to make food that would really satisfy me. Now, I cook the way my palate craves — herbal and bright, salty, sometimes fatty but, ultimately, balanced. The book’s philosophy is to really go for it and not hold back. Add more dill, then find out you don’t like it and be more restrained next time. More is More means coaxing more potential out of your ingredients and getting more out of your own palate.
H&H:What dish should everyone make from More is More?
MB: My Mollz Ballz trade parsley and basil for mint prepared three ways because I love the way the flavours of mint and tomato melt together. Whole sprigs of mint are simmered in the tomato sauce, chopped mint leaves go in the meat, then the dish is finished with fresh mint, which adds a bright, herbal, more peppery taste. Ricotta gives a light, fluffy quality and Italian sausage brings lots of spices.
Get the recipe for Mollz Ballz here.
H&H: On the heels of your first bestseller, what was the inspiration for this book?
MB: This is the way I want to eat! Some recipes came from what was in my fridge at the time, like the Chicken Salad with Coconut Crunch. The Crispy Potato Skins with Fried Herb Aioli is an homage to a dish I ate a lot when I was a kid at Gigi in the Hudson Valley. They serve these amazing thick-cut French fries, where, at the last minute, they throw rosemary and sage into the fryer and then serve them with herby cornichon mayo. My version is like grown-up potato skins that don’t have cheddar cheese and bacon coating them.
Get the recipe for Crispy Potato Skins with Herbed Aioli here.
H&H: What restaurants have you been eating at and loving recently?
MB: I lived in New York for years, so I love Bonnie’s and Chez Ma Tante in Brooklyn, and Thai Diner in Manhattan. In L.A., Antico Nuovo is an incredible Italian restaurant and the chef is a genius. There’s also Queen St., a southern-inspired seafood and raw bar, and Borekas in the Valley for amazing, flaky Sephardic pastries stuffed with fluffy homemade cheese and za’atar. I also love to eat at Elena in Montreal. Montreal restaurants have a quality that’s so European.
H&H: What’s next for you?
MB: Last year, I had a lot of success with my Crate & Barrel line and my wine collection, Drink This Wine, so I’m following that up with plans to launch some new food products. I’m also working on a concept for a TV show that will be very lighthearted and fun. And I’m starting to think about my next book. Maybe it will be called Less is More!
Chicken Salad with Coconut Crunch
“Crunchy, fresh veg is mixed with a peanuty coconut ginger dressing and coconut crunch — a nut, coconut, sesame seed and curry powder granola — that you can snack on all day.” — Molly Baz
Get the recipe here.
Ramen Noodles with Shrooms & Soy Butter
“The noodles get coated in a glossy, saucy, buttery, parmy mixture like an Italian pasta, and then there’s soy sauce and ramen for a little wink to Asian noodle dishes.” — Molly Baz
Get the recipe here.
Pistachio Brown Butter & Halva Chocolate Chunk Cookies
“A nutty, savoury, sweet and salty cookie that’s chewy on the inside and crisp on the outside. I wanted to bring new intrigue to a cookie that’s been made one billion times before.” — Molly Baz
Get the recipe here.
More is More by Molly Baz. Clarkson Potter, 2023, $48.
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