Debbie Koski

Connect What is your signature dish?

My signature dish is my Five Flavor Pound Cake with Vanilla Lime Custard! The recipe won NBC’s TODAY Show Home Chef competition in 2011. The meals that truly define me are rooted in hospitality and seasonality; Spatchcock Italian grilled chicken, garden vegetables, fresh herbs, simple potatoes with mayo, and desserts built around what’s fresh at the market. I love food that feels simple and memorable. Meals that invites people to linger around the table just a little longer.

Who is your culinary inspiration?

My greatest culinary inspiration was my mother. She taught me that food is more than nourishment. Food is love, memory, comfort, and connection. My favorite moments in life were spent cooking beside her, talking about recipes, cookbooks, gardens, and gathering people around the table. Ina Garten has also deeply inspired me. After reading her memoir April 2025, I realized that a cookbook doesn’t have to be complicated. That advice gave me the courage to finally begin writing my own.

What would you do with the $25,000?

Winning would help me publish cookbooks that are deeply personal to me. A collection of treasured family recipes and stories gathered through the years. Another, inspired by my “Cookbook Library Project,” where I recreate and celebrate recipes from the more than 500 cookbooks my mother left me. The prize would also allow me to travel, continue recipe development and recreate dishes inspired by places and meals that have shaped me.