20 Questions with Emily
Emily Capece has the voice of an angel. She has graced stages and classrooms around the world with her gift of singing. Couple this with her acting talent and she is a one woman entertainer. We met in Charleston, West Virginia, where everybody knows everybody. As newcomers in our homes away from Charleston, Emily and I muse about our relative anonymity and our adoration of the place we called home for 20-something years.
Emily’s song has quieted recently while she navigates a stage she never imagined: her now teenage son’s ultra ultra ultra rare cancer diagnosis and treatment. From her home near Cleveland, she praises a patient advocate in Los Angeles for guiding her and her family through this unrivaled trial. As we spoke last week, I could imagine her with sword and cape and a warrior’s shield, ready for battle. Woven through this heavy discussion, Emily’s gift of entertaining had me laughing out loud. It really is the best medicine.
What’s your 20 minute recipe? Should I be pretentious or should I be real? Unfortunately I'm a slow cooker, so I don’t do many recipes in 20 minutes. My first job out of college, I taught music at an American elementary school on a base in Okinawa. I was so excited about being in a different culture! I learned this noodle dish, Otsu. It’s somen (skinny soba) with cucumbers, snow peas and tofu with a great dressing. I really like it room temp or even cold. It’s just delicious! I used to make it all the time when I lived alone. It’s so yummy and comforting, I can whip this up any time!
I had a lot of fun. I was there for 2 years, I met my husband Christian there my second year. He moved back to Washington and I decided he was worth following.
What’s your favorite city? Vienna. I haven’t been there since way too long. I studied abroad there. It was amazing! I saw all the operas! I wandered around, I just loved it! Ten years later I got a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to go back for a summer program and study Mozart operas, a course for teachers. I’m a voice and music history major. I’m always talking about it! It’s a really special, beautiful artsy, musical place. It has all the things! I really love Cleveland, too! I grew up here, I needed to leave for 22 years to appreciate it.
What’s your Favorite restaurant in your current city? Oh yeah, I have a lot! I love a Oaxacan mole! I could eat mole with a spoon every day. Momocho on the west side of Cleveland. They have the BEST mole! And they make these flautas with butternut squash and goat cheese, with some frizzled brussels sprouts. I think about this daily.
Treasured find in the back of your fridge? I always have a jar of Korean marmalade that I make into tea! It’s ginger and citrus and I really love it in cold and flu season. I’m always super happy to find that.
Who taught you to cook? My mom for sure. She worked full time at Kent State University and came home every night and cooked dinner. In the 80’s in northeast Ohio you didn’t go out to eat. I didn’t know that having family dinners was unique or special. My grandmother was the cookie queen! I have all her recipe boxes. She had all this commentary on every recipe card. Every card has these opinions attached to it. Cooking is so great for those of us who want to be more creative in our lives
What’s your go-to dish for company? The roast chicken from Zuni Cafe, I just love that bread soaked up with all the chicken fat. You don’t have to have company for that! It’s just sooo good. It’s so easy. There are a lot of steps but it really is so easy! Christian and I found ourselves at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco eating this dish. I’m happy that it turns out at home. Was Yelp a thing back then?
What’s on your cooking playlist? These days I’m listening to Brandi Carlisle. I just love a rock and roll female singer. Folk women who rock!
Coffee, tea, or Kombucha? COFFEE. She sings!
With oat milk! You have to use a loooooot of oat milk to make it turn any color but black.
Date night--at home? or out? How can you have a date night at home with children? OUT obviously!
Most stained cookbook? Splendid Table How to Eat Supper by Lynn Rosetto Kasper and Sally Swift.
Surf? or Turf? Definitely fish, definitely surf.
Indispensable kitchen tool? I’ve been carrying this around. It's a Tovolo. It’s like a little plastic scraper thing, one side is oval shaped and the other side is square. It’s the BEST thing to get peanut butter out of the bottom of the jar. It’s the bomb!
Staple childhood comfort food? My mom made these things called walking salads. We used to hike all the time as kids. You take a piece of cabbage spread with peanut butter, roll it up and shove a toothpick in it and you have a walking salad! It would show up in my lunchbox. It’s like celery with peanut butter.
Who would you most like to share a meal with? past, present or fictional? A lot of people. I have always loved Mary Oliver. Especially during this time, going out into nature. I would want to have a picnic under a tree and talk to her about what she observes! I need that grounding comfort in the things that are super simple. Right now I need somebody quiet.
Ideal grilled cheese? I love sourdough or baguette, super toasted up, with brie, super thinly sliced granny smith apples and honey mustard.
Favorite pizza topping? Fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil. Straight up. Simple is best!
Where would you want to take a cooking class? I love Thai food and Indian food and every time I try to replicate either of those, it never turns out. I’d say Thailand for sure. Send me to the experts!
What’s your Counter Intelligence cooking tip? If you cook with your child in the kitchen, they will eat what they make. If you just cook and present it at the dinner table, it’s hit or miss whether they will eat it. It can take a lot longer when they’re in there but it’s worth it.
Three things next to your stove? Olive oil, Dickinson salt, cat hair! We have 2 new kittens, Covid kittens! Every time I’m cooking she’s everywhere she’s not supposed to be. There is always a cat next to me.
What do you miss most about Charleston? I miss the people. I miss seeing the little ones growing up, and I miss the Healthy Life Market. I love that place!
Break out your chopsticks and add Emily’s Otsu to your 20 minute meal rotation! it’s as delicious as it is quick.
Emily’s Otsu
Emily walked me through her comforting japanese noodle dish and I’m adding it into instant rotation in my kitchen! Riff away! I went with a balanced blend of all her sauce suggestions, plus sesame seeds. Note about the somen: some brands can be soaked and some quick boiled. My brand didn’t do so well with soaking...so I boiled one of the bundles for about a minute without taking my stirring fork out of the pot and voila!
Fry up a bunch of extra firm tofu, bite sized cubes, then throw some random oil in the pan, black pepper and soy sauce or tamari. Take it out of the pan. In the same pan, briefly stir fry snow peas and green onion, add cucumbers and cilantro at the end. Soak (or boil, see note above) the somen, top with the vegetables and tofu and drizzle with sauce.
Emily says: the sauce is what makes it! I riff on it, tamari, olive oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, a little honey, lemon, grated ginger, chopped garlic if i’m feeling it. Chili flakes. I really like it room temp or even cold. It’s just delicious!
