Braised by Wolves
, a hilarious YouTube cooking show, is the brainchild of Ricky Aiello and Amanda Picotte. Shot about every other week primarily in their Greenpoint loft with Ricky in front of the stove, and Amanda behind the camera, they share creative recipes, cooking tricks, and wine tips. They brainstorm together on how to show the world that cooking is sincerely fun and not stressful. For them, it’s a passion project for sharing their own form of edible entertainment.
Their shows are about making cooking truly accessible; even someone who stores sweaters (Oh, the stereotype!) in their oven can make many of these dishes…like the hilarious, easy, and tasty “vegan tostilocos.”
Watch Ricky prepare “Vegan Tostilocos” on a boat.
“We’re trying to share tips and tricks and have fun. We want to show that cooking is not stressful. If you are stressed and then have a subpar meal, it sucks,” Ricky said. “Our show is budget-friendly, and you can make everything with regular pans and all our ingredients are accessible.” So no need to special order fancy seed oils or random spices that you’ll use one time for one recipe.
Braised by Wolves targets novice chefs, but any kind of cook would enjoy their show—especially if you have a sense of humor. Their loose style leaves you laughing—even if you don’t cook often. In each episode, they also try to share real tips and tricks that they’ve learned, especially about wine. Amanda’s job at a food and wine PR agency has given her a great knowledge (and collection) of wine, so viewers can learn something about different kinds of wine with every episode.
The next series will be “Seamless Genius”—showing what you can do with the random leftovers from Seamless lying around the fridge the next morning. Leftover pizza eggs benedict? Yes, please!
Can’t get enough? Subscribe to their consistently funny YouTube channel, drool at their food on Instagram, and follow them on Facebook.