Turntable Kitchen Subscription Box Review – November 2015

Turntable Kitchen’s Pairings Box is both a recipe of the month club and a vinyl record subscription service. Each box includes 3 seasonal recipes, 1-2 premium ingredients, tasting notes, and an exclusive 7” vinyl. 

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The Subscription Box: Turntable Kitchen’s Pairings Box

The Cost: $25 per month + shipping ($2.12 for shipping to DC.)

The Products: Original recipes, 1-2 premium ingredients, and an exclusive 7” vinyl record.

Ships to: Worldwide

Included in the box was a pamphlet that outlined the food and music picks. This month is all about breakfast!

I love the idea of pairing food and music in a subscription box, and I’ve been curious to try Turntable Kitchen’s Pairings Box for quite a while now. (The recipes and food photography they feature on their blog are drool worthy!) I’ve held off on ordering a box, though, because I don’t have a turntable and I know next to nothing about vinyl records. Luckily, Anna, my turntable-savvy fellow MSA reviewer, agreed to pair up with me to do a joint review!

The box reached me first, so I took out the recipes and special ingredient and then forwarded on the rest of the contents to Anna. Below, you’ll find my review of Turntable Kitchen’s recipes and foodstuffs, Anna’s review of their music, and our verdicts. We hope you enjoy!

Anna’s Turntable

I know he is getting big press, but I had never heard anything from Gallant until I got this EP.  R&B is not my usual fare at all!  It's probably the genre I am least familiar with, to be honest.  As a side note, the cover of this EP terrifies my seven-year-old!  Ha!  I had to put it away. 

Right away I saw something on the reverse of the EP cover that caught my eye.  It's a numbered exclusive pressing!  I got 309/350.  That's terribly cool among record collectors.  It's probably not worth an exorbitant amount right now, but some day, who knows?

Translucent gold!  Another first for me!  It's kind of the color of champagne, which of course is perfect with brunch.  I love the vinyl itself!  Although I am not very well versed in R&B, the music was objectively great, and the man has serious pipes.  It was well produced, and it got me moving my body first thing in the morning.  That always makes for a great day!

Lindsey’s Kitchen 

This month’s Turntable Kitchen box is an “ode to breakfast.” I love cooking breakfast foods (especially for dinner), so I feel we really lucked out with this theme. The featured recipes this month are: Buttermilk Waffles with Rosemary Pears and Ricotta, Quick Homemade Ricotta, and Berry Matcha Smoothie. Right off the bat, I was thrilled by the look of these recipes! (And a little intimidated by the prospect of making my own cheese…)

Every box includes a handful of recipes and a “premium ingredient” that features in at least one of them. This month’s ingredient is Matcha!

Matcha (Japanese green tea powder) can be used in baking, smoothies, or whisked into hot water.

I love drinking matcha, but I’m not the biggest smoothie drinker (especially when the weather starts to get chilly), so I decided to reserve the powder for other uses. 

I don’t have a turntable, but I do love music. Luckily, the box came with instructions for accessing an online digital version of the month’s music. This digital version of the record is only available for subscribers, but Turntable Kitchen posts mixtapes that anyone can access.

Before I started cooking, I cued up their Autumn Mixtape!

While the smoothie recipe didn’t really speak to me, I couldn’t wait to try the others. I made the ricotta recipe first, followed by the waffles.

As I mentioned previously, I was a little intimidated by the idea of making my own cheese. A couple of years ago, I tried (a little half-heartedly) to make my own mozzarella. It didn’t go well, and I haven’t tried making cheese again since. Not one to back down from a challenge, though, I figured I had to give this recipe a shot!

Luckily, the recipe was very simple. I began by heating a combination of milk, heavy cream, and salt to between 165 and 185 degrees. Once it reached the target temperature zone, I removed it from the heat and stirred in two tablespoons of white distilled vinegar. I then let it sit, untouched, for 10 minutes.

While I waited for the milk to curdle, I began setting up what I’d need to strain the cheese. It was during this time that I realized I never added cheese cloth to my shopping list. Oh no! Pushing aside thoughts that cheesemaking might be my culinary kryptonite, I surveyed my kitchen and found a gauze-like dishtowel that I hoped would be a suitable substitute. When my 10-minute timer sounded, I strained the cheesy mixture using my towel-lined sieve.

While the cheese strained, I set to work making the waffle batter and rosemary pears.

I made the pears first by sautéing sliced pears with butter and fresh rosemary.

I stirred them occasionally and allowed them to cook until they started to soften, and at the same time, in a large bowl, I mixed up the waffle batter.

When the pears were ready, I heated up my waffle iron and started making the waffles.

I checked back in with the ricotta and was very pleased to see that it was starting to look like cheese! I allowed it to continue straining while I made the waffles and then transferred it into a bowl. 

When the components were all ready, I plated the waffles!

I topped each waffle with a dollop of ricotta, a spoonful of rosemary pears, and honey. Both my husband and I loved this dish, and I was so proud to serve up homemade ricotta! My cheese was looser than the store-bought stuff, but the flavor was excellent. Best of all, it was still slightly warm. The rosemary pears were delicious, too, and the honey pulled all of the components together really well. 

Lindsey’s Verdict: I had so much fun with this box from Turntable Kitchen! My ricotta, waffles, and pears all turned out well, and I’m so proud of myself for successfully making cheese at home! I think it’s a fun idea to pick one “premium ingredient” to include in the box and to plan a menu around it. While this box’s matcha recipe wasn’t something I got super excited about, I still think the matcha itself is a great pick, and I’ll definitely use it in another way. (It’s difficult to determine a value for the matcha, though, because it can vary wildly in price depending on the quality.) While I really enjoyed both the culinary curation of this box and the music I accessed online, I think this subscription is definitely best for someone who loves cooking AND collecting vinyl. I’m not sure the cost would be worth it for me to subscribe on my own, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to use the record. That said, I had a fantastic time reviewing this box, and I’m so glad that Anna and I were able to enjoy it together!

 Anna’s Verdict:  Even though I'm a Mom, I'm not a great cook, so I just made our usual breakfast fare on Sunday morning.  BUT, I did sip the matcha while listening to the EP and the playlist, and I have to say, it set the tone for a lovely day! It was very different from my usual Sunday morning jams, but it helped us all to get a good groove on. 

Are you a vinyl-collecting food lover? If so, will you be giving Turntable Kitchen’s Pairings Box a spin?