On August 7, home cook Brad Marloff was named the winner of the second season of PBS’s “The Great American Recipes.” “I think it made me very proud of the Jewish community,” Makhlov told the newspaper. “I know my family is happy. I’m very excited.”
This New York-based real estate developer’s purpose was to share a love of Jewish culture and cuisine. He is of Libyan Jewish descent on his paternal side and Ashkenazi on his maternal side. “There are no Jews left in Libya. All that is left for us is food,” Makhlov said. “I’m not a food creator professionally, so having the chance to be on a TV show and share my stories and food is so surreal.”
Throughout the season, talented home cooks from all over the country presented their prized dishes with the aim of winning. Unlike other cooking competition shows (and unlike its first season), in the second season of The Great American Recipe, the judges didn’t omit the chef each week. Instead, the show tracked dishes scored in each episode.
Three chefs with the highest scores — Makhlov. Salma Haque, who cooks Guyanese food, and Lianna Pierre, who has Caribbean-inspired recipes, competed in the finals. “I don’t know what the secret sauce was that made us successful, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the three of us in the finale,” Makhlov said.
Pierre was the first person Maklov met on the show, which was filmed in a barn in southern Virginia. “We carpooled from the airport to the hotel and had a quick transfer,” he said. “I felt, ‘She’s seriously competitive.'” I paid attention.
In the first round of finals, each contestant was given a letter from a loved one and a recipe card. for this mission. Makrov’s mother sent him a recipe for matzo ball soup for her family. For the second and final round, the chefs spent three hours creating appetizers, side dishes, and desserts representing great American recipes.
After that, a special person came to each chef to help. Makrov’s mother helped prepare the winning mahrum with couscous (eggplants stuffed with meat, fried and then simmered until tender), which he described as “the crowning jewel of Libyan-Jewish cuisine”. It seems that he gave me For dessert I made the fig upside down cake and whipped cream. “Mother hugged me, [whispered] In my ear, “No matter what, I’m proud of you. So let’s just have fun,” he said.
Makrov said sharing the experience with her made it even more special. “I think the love we staked definitely got through to the judges, and I think that was one of the factors that contributed to our victory.”
At the beginning of the pandemic, when Ms. Maklov started sharing her love of cooking and her own traditions through Instagram, she never imagined it would lead here. “I decided to make these recipes a passion project to record and cook, and hopefully commemorate them so they can be passed on to the next generation and beyond.” He said.
When the show’s casting staff contacted him, he said he thought it was a joke. “I got a DM on Instagram saying, ‘I think you would be perfect for this show,'” he said. Mr. Makrov ignored it, but they kept sending messages until he finally responded. “It never occurred to me to do something like this,” Makhlov said. “But when the opportunity came, I said, ‘Why not? “If this is what the universe is saying, let’s get on it.”
Makrov articulated it well. He is the definition of “putting yourself on the plate”. In fact, his winning recipe is featured on the cover of “The Great American Recipe Season 2 Cookbook.”
Stay tuned as Makrov is looking forward to the next phase of his culinary career. “This is just the beginning of the journey,” he said.
Learn more about Brad Marloff and The Great American Recipe.to follow @cookwithbrad on Instagram.
Check out our Taste Buds with Deb interview with Brad Makloff.
If you want to taste Maklov’s cooking, try his hummus recipe.
Brad Makloff’s Best 10 Minute Quick Creamy Homemade Hummus
Israeli and Middle Eastern families take great pride in their hummus recipes and claim to make the best versions. They clearly didn’t try mine!
Hummus is a staple in my kitchen and has been a pantry staple since I was a little kid. I use it not only as a meal companion, but also as a healthy snack. Store-bought hummus is fine and can be used in a pinch, but it can’t be compared to fresh homemade hummus.
The creaminess, depth of flavor and freshness are unmatched. I took the time to create an “instant” version from start to finish in 6 minutes, so there’s no reason not to do it yourself.
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Two 15-ounce cans of chickpeas
2/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (you can add more if you like)
4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon cumin
3/4 tbsp kosher salt (you can add more)
taste)
direction
1. Add 1 can of chickpea liquid and all cans of chickpeas and 1 can of drained chickpeas to a high-power blender or food processor. However, be sure to save the liquid in case you need it.
2. Then add the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin and kosher salt.
3. Blend ingredients on high for 5 minutes until completely smooth. See note below.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Note
I sometimes make this in two batches to avoid overfilling the blender and getting stuck when mixing the ingredients.