Jo Cooks

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ABOUT JO

ABOUT JO COOKS

Joanna

Welcome to Jo Cooks where you’ll find delicious, tried-and-tested recipes for every occasion made with every day ingredients! They all come complete with step-by-step photo tutorials, videos and detailed instructions, all to help you succeed in your kitchen.

Jo Cooks has been around since 2011 and it started out as a place for me to store my recipes that I’ve collected over the years from friends and family. Here you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of delicious recipes, so make sure to check out the Recipes section and browse all your favorites!

People ask me all the time, what sort of food I cook and blog about. The truth is, everything. I cook anything and everything, and well, we eat everything, and if my husband and I can’t eat everything, there are plenty of friends, family or neighbours who love to help us out. I, most of all, love simple recipes with few everyday ingredients that you can either find in your pantry, or are easy to find at your local grocery store.

 

ABOUT JO

My name Joanna Cismaru, Jo for short, and I am the brains behind my food blog, Jo Cooks. I’m a writer, photographer, cookbook author and most importantly, I’m the cook that prepares all these scrumptious recipes that you can find here. My husband Remo, is the other force behind this blog. He’s the taste tester, IT genius, accountant extraordinaire and last but not least, my biggest supporter and pillar of strength.

We also have a new pup, a Blue Merle Australian Shepherd and his name is Indiana Jones. He’s the cutest dog alive, yes I know I’m biased, and he’s super active and keeps us laughing all day long. Many times you’ll see me share pictures of him and his shenanigans. I also have a personal assistant, Nicole who is amazing and loves food as much as I do. Together we make up the Jo Cooks team.

Indiana Jones

As long as I can remember I’ve always loved to cook and putz around in the kitchen. I’m seriously passionate about food and I do consider myself a foodie! I love all food and I will always try everything at least once, well maybe except bugs. I won’t try bugs and cats or dogs! But everything else goes.

I am totally self-taught and have no formal culinary training but I have been cooking for over 20 years. I’ve learned from my mistakes because there have been mess-ups in the kitchen, but I think that’s what makes us stronger and better at what we do. I love Julia Child’s style of cooking but I love to simplify meals, so that they are more attainable for the everyday cook.

 

 

MY PREVIOUS CAREER

Lemon Chicken Piccata
Lemon Chicken Piccata – a simple yet super impressive chicken piccata in a tasty lemon, butter and capers sauce. Perfect with pasta for a quick and delicious dinner.

In my previous career, I worked in the IT world doing software development, and while I enjoyed it, it was quite stressful. To relieve some of that stress, I always turned to cooking and baking, thus discovering my latest passion, and so this new “so-called” career evolved.

I am totally self-taught when it comes to cooking, though I have to thank my mom for teaching me the basics. I must say that I enjoy baking more than cooking so you will find quite a few baking recipes here. While I’m not a fancy baker I do love my breads and rolls and the occasional cake or pastry.

 

 

 

 

Coconut Shrimp Curry
Coconut Shrimp Curry

FUN FACTS

I was born in Romania, Transylvania to be exact. My family moved here when I was just a child. While I can honestly say I’ve never met a vampire, I do love my garlic. Here you will also find some of my favorite Romanian recipes that have been passed down to me from my mom and mother in law.

My husband and I met online back in the 90s when online dating wasn’t even a thing. 18 years later we’re still happily married and together we’ve made all our dreams come true.

My all time favorite food is anything Italian like lasagna, pizza, any kind of pasta and bacon!

MY COOKBOOK

If you love my recipes and would like more of my creations, you can find my cookbook 30 Minute One Pot Meals available to order.

You can order my “30-Minute One-Pot Meals” book at:

30-Minute One-Pot Meals

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Comments

  1. Becki C says

    I just have to say how much I love your recipes!! Everything I have tried has been delicious and so easy to make!!
    I cook gluten and mostly dairy free, so recipes like your pretzel dough I have used successfully with gluten free flour and they were a real hit with my family.
    I share your website with anyone looking for recipes, there is so much variety and something for everyone to try.
    Thank-you!!

    Reply

  2. Lyrish Tria says

    Hi Jo!
    I just graduated college last year, and I really love cooking but due to lack of finances I am currently working in an Insurance Industry, very far from my passion, but it’s okay, what I’m doing during m free time is to watch video of cooking tutorials on YouTube, and now, I though of something new, to look for a food blog in the internet and voila! I found yours, very catchy and full of fun even when I haven’t read yet everything about your blogs. Just by reading your intro about yourself it already gave me an excitement and for me to love more my passion for cooking and baking.

    Reply

  3. LINDA D ZEIGLER says

    Hi Jo.
    Just wanted to know how much I’ve truly enjoyed your recipes. They are “down to earth” with lots of special flavors to entertain our pallets! Just read your biography and am going to explore your Romanian dishes. We eat lots of “hunky” food because of our Slovak heritage. You’re my “go to” for new ideas for “what’s for dinner”. Cooking for families has never been so important! Thank you so much for inviting me into your kitchen!!

    Reply

  4. Ma Wood says

    These wings were simply amazing! So flavorful!! Love the asian flavors. Next time I might add some sesame seeds for fun!! We are a family of picky foodies and these wings were a hit! Thank you so much for this recipe!

    Reply

  5. Barbara Liekens says

    Hi Jo, I’m from Belgium and discovered your blog a few weeks ago. I tried out a couple of things already and all were a big hit. I love cooking and trying out new things, I love your Asian recipes. Never found a blog I linked for this kind of food. We have a dog to but a little Brown long hair chihuahua, his name is Crumble.

    Reply

  6. Rita Phinney says

    I love your cauliflower cheese bread. I substitute taco seasoning instead of Italian seasons. We Top it w/ jalapeños & eat it like a taco w/ shredded lettuce, sour cream & chicken or beef. Great cooked on the grill too!

    Reply

  7. Cole Tyler says

    Hi Jo going through your chicken dishes one by one, they have a lovely taste and easy to follow recipes and my wife (Tracey) who is a chef here in Bulgaria loves them too so they must be good to get her approval 🙂 also I have a very large Karakachan [Khan] who wants my laptop to blow up as he isnt getting any scraps lol Dumnezeu să ajute.

    Reply

  8. Christy says

    Just joined and love this site, however I’m unable to print out chicken and dumplings and blueberry loaf etc. Do you happen to have your printer option turned off ?

    Reply

    • REMO says

      Hey Christy, in order to print our recipes you have two options: at the top of the page right under the title saying “Print Recipe” and another one within the recipe card, a button that simply says ‘PRINT’. If none of them work, usually it is because your browser is blocking pop-up windows, which the print dialog is. Check for an icon in the address bar that might give you the option of enabling pop-ups on jocooks.com or try another browser and see what happens.

      Reply

  9. Andy says

    O-Queso… Thats my OK so……anyway….Im looking onto the cheddar bacon biscuits….one question I have is… will it hold up being a bit bigger……I do allot of BBQ and i was thinking of using this for my pulled pork. Just wondering if its too flaky to hold up to meat…or should we only grace it with the liquids of the Gods like….Sausage Gravy,…..Golden Butter…..and jams?

    Reply

    • Jo Cooks Team says

      I like all these ideas! You can cut the batch in half. Make one half large biscuits and the other half smaller. Test the out and see what you like best! They all honestly sound great.

      Reply

  10. Barbara Brady says

    I love your recipes. and enjoy repeating many. I am often attracted to a video on the side of the screen but catching it after the start, don’t know the recipe name. I would like to suggest the name of the recipe be repeated at the end of the video. That way I can look up for full recipe. Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes and cooking tips.

    Reply

  11. Donna Longhurst says

    I’m from Australia and was looking up beignets because I’d never heard of them except on U.S. cooking shows, yet they looked so yummy. I stumbled across your recipe. It was the most wonderfully detailed recipe I’ve ever seen! With great hints and tips. Have to translate into products and measurements from here. Not too hard. Thank you I can’t wait to give them a go.

    Reply

  12. Emily Kirsten says

    Hi! I’m fifteen years old and just started my own food blog. I love your site and will definitely be joining 🙂
    Funny thing…we’re getting our Blue Merle mini aussie next week! We named him Oreo…haven’t met him yet! If you have any advice regarding these pups that would be awesome…Indiana Jones is such a cute name and he’s adorable too!

    Reply

  14. Cathy Brower says

    I received the cookbook today and am absolutely ecstatic! The pictures, descriptions, directions and notes are amazing and so easy to follow! Looking forward to more adventures in the kitchen.

    Reply

  17. Vicki Helgenberg says

    I love all of your recipes, from food to desserts and baking of course. Baking is my passion. Your recipes are easy to read and understand, and I give your address to so many of my friends. Congratulations on moving forward into a whole new territory.

    Reply

  19. Victoria says

    Hello, i’m very new to baking bread. I live at 5500 ft. I want to try your no knead, durch oven, whole wheat recipe. Do I need to adjust? Thank you Jo.

    Reply