The #1 Costco Ingredient Top Chef's Kristen Kish Can't Live Without—Plus the One Food She Won't Put on Pizza - EatingWell

After winning season 10 of Top Chef, Kristen Kish hit the ground running. She quickly went on to become a host to shows like Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend and the producer of Restaurants at the End of the World (among many other impressive endeavors). And she's still found time to judge Top Chef in its upcoming 21st season.

EatingWell recently took the opportunity to chat with the renowned chef and Austin, Texas restaurant owner about how she manages such a busy lifestyle, to include her most recent partnership with Ninja. Kish is spearheading their "Chef Squad" to help showcase the new Woodfire™ Outdoor Oven, an 8-in-1 appliance that can be used for anything from making pizza to searing a steak.

During our conversation, Kish shared her favorite foods to cook in Ninja's new outdoor oven and the kitchen tools and ingredients she can't live without, plus the one ingredient she doesn't like on pizza.

What's your go-to snack to keep you energized while filming or working long hours in the kitchen?

Well, it always starts with copious copious amounts of coffee. No sugar, no milk, just straight caffeine. For me, because my job is around food, I don't like to feel overly full. Anytime on set or on any ride, especially for television where I have to continue to eat during the day, I choose high-calorie, low-volume foods. A lot of dried fruits and nuts. A great pastry—that is like 90% air in my brain—sounds like a low-volume food for me. So, I try to get enough energy in terms of caloric intake, but not fill me up too much. Then, I can continue to eat more.

What's your favorite pair of restaurant shoes to wear in the kitchen?

I chose style over substance at first, because the kitchen clogs are just not cute. I just need something that can translate, if I want to go into the dining room and still feel like it's a fully formed outfit choice. So, I stick with the Blundstones. I like the taller ankle Australian work boots. They're great because they're waterproof. They're non-slip. You can splatter some oil on your foot and not completely burn your sock. And they're a great work boot that I wear to the grocery store, that I do yard work in. I think they're really versatile.

Is there a tool or cooking ingredient you cannot live without in your kitchen?

All forms of salt. Various kinds, because every dish requires something different. I go to Costco and buy the giant bulk pink salt, kosher salt, maldon salt, and you just always have it on hand. I'm not spending a gajillion dollars on precious salt. It's just the Costco brand, Kirkland.

And obviously the Ninja Outdoor Oven, truly. I am not a person to partner with something or someone that I don't find beneficial in my life. Being a professional cook, at home I am the complete opposite. I don't want to spend time cooking, I want it to be easy. I want it to feel like I can do it with my eyes closed. So, the fact that I can bake puff pastry at 350℉ in that Ninja Outdoor Oven, or I can do Neapolitan-style pizzas at 700℉, and then everything in between. I'm like, okay, that makes sense to put into my equipment arsenal.

What's your favorite thing to cook in the Ninja Woodfire™ Outdoor Oven?

Okay, I say this because I've had experiences with other products that claim to be the best at it: pizzas. The fact that we can now truly make pizza at home is a new phenomenon, especially for me in my cooking world. I can make all different kinds, like one that is a mashed potatoes, bechamel, cheese and corn kind of pizza. It is probably one of my favorite things because it just opens up to so many different kinds of pizzas that you can make.

Are those your favorite pizza toppings? What would be on your ideal pizza?

So, there's pizza in general. I love pizza. There's very few ingredients that I don't like [on] it. Perhaps it's better if I tell you what I don't like on pizza, and that is mushrooms, unless they're done really well. If you're going to put a mushroom on a pizza, you need to do it with intention, which I find oftentimes doesn't happen. So pizza and mushrooms for me, aren't a good thing.

What would you do before putting mushrooms on pizza?

You have to pre-cook them, especially if they're a white button mushroom, which I love. On Top Chef Season 10, my very first challenge was cooking mushrooms, and I sometimes double-, triple-, quadruple-cook them, because you need to pull out the moisture to then import the flavor you want. Otherwise, they're just steaming—there's no development of flavor, in my opinion. I would cut them, pre-steam them or pre-roast them to pull out that initial liquid. Then, when you put it in the outdoor oven, they start to caramelize right on the spot.

Recipe to Try: Wild Mushroom Pizza with Arugula & Pecorino

What does eating well mean to you?

It means a lot of different things. In the most literal sense, eating well is fueling your body with things that you love and things that are good for you. Now, those two things don't have to be the same. You have to find the right harmony that makes sense for you. There's nothing worse than feeling like you have to do something one way in order to yield the healthiest result. So, eating well to me is finding your own personal harmony, whatever that looks like.

Second is surrounding yourself and eating well with the company that you choose to create memories with around a table. Sometimes, I want to sit at the kitchen counter by myself and I don't want to talk to anybody, and that is my most fulfilling kind of meal. Then, there's ones when you sit around a table, create memories with family and friends and go to a fantastic restaurant that you feel well taken care of. Eating well means how you feel in that sense. Not just in the healthy, physical sense. To me, that's where I try to strike all the right balances to feel the most fueled literally and figuratively.

Keep Reading: Giada De Laurentiis Shares What the Mediterranean Diet Means to Her—Plus the One Ingredient She Never Uses

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The #1 Costco Ingredient Top Chef's Kristen Kish Can't Live Without—Plus the One Food She Won't Put on Pizza - EatingWell
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