A formative presence in the early 2000s food blog explosion, Deb Perelman — the founder and leader of “Smitten Kitchen” — writes and speaks with an inviting, fun, and conversational tone that is practically always welcome, no matter your mood.

Perelman clearly loves food. She is passionate about the importance of a "good recipe" and all that entails. Her imagination and talent shine in her recipe development, ingredient choices and flavor profiles. Plus, she's a reliable pal when it comes to container-specific measurements — no errant half cans of coconut milk or half tubes of tomato paste here!

“Smitten Kitchen's” refreshing voice and reliability have remained steadfast in the nearly 20 years since its debut. In addition to the immensely comprehensive blog and recipe archive, the brand now includes several cookbooks. As Perelman puts it, she has created over 1,500 recipes overall. Her most recent cookbook, “Smitten Kitchen Keepers,” was released to much fanfare and acclaim less than two years ago.

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Now, as a companion to that book, she’s releasing a PDF and audiobook designed to guide fans and listeners through her recipe development process. The audiobook delves into the ins and outs of each recipe, the personal stories behind them and much more. Perelman describes the audiobook as akin to having an informal chat with a friend about what you're making for dinner — nothing stuffy or ostentatious. Instead, it offers a relaxed conversation, commiserating over a dish that didn’t turn out as planned or celebrating one that exceeded expectations.

Perelman hopes to be a patient, fun, and guiding voice, helping home cooks improve, learn, grow — and make really good food. Salon recently had the opportunity to connect with Perelman to discuss all of this and more.

Deb Perelman (Photo by Christine Han)

The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

I'd love to hear about the new audio project, "Smitten Kitchen Keepers: A Kitchen Counter Conversation" — such an interesting idea!

I thought it would be fun to do a cookbook audiobook, but understood from the get-go that nobody wants to hear me read a recipe aloud — "half a........

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