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 have a new puppy, his name is Han Solo and he’s just a ball of energy. We got him for our previous puppy, Indiana Jones, to have a brother, but unfortunately Indiana Jones passed away from Lymphoma earlier in the year. Our hearts are broken, he was only 3 years old and the best dog ever. Luckily, we still have Solo who’s helped us through this difficult time. He’s an Aussie Doodle, super smart and full of energy.
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
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.
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. Almost 20 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 COOKBOOKS
The Big Book Of Jo’s Quick & Easy Meals
I wrote a new cookbook called “The Big Book Of Jo’s Quick & Easy Meals” and will be available on August 2nd, 2021. You can now PRE-ORDER it at:
30-Minute One-Pot Meals
If you love my recipes and would like more of my creations, you can find my first cookbook “30 Minute One Pot Meals” available to order.
You can order my “30-Minute One-Pot Meals” book at:
I made your pecan pie cheesecake today. But when I poured the topping over the partially baked cheesecake, the cheesecake moved all around snd it was not level for the topping. What did I do wrong?
Perhaps the cheesecake needed a bit more baking time in the oven until it stops jiggling so much. Every oven is different, so it might not have set enough by the time the 30 minutes were up. It definitely wouldn’t hurt anything if you baked it a bit longer before pouring the topping over it.
Thank you Jo, love all your recipes!
Thank you!
Jo, I’m making your homemade croissants (first time making croissants). As I put the dough in fridge overnight, I am just wrapping it in plastic wrap?
Question – each time I laminated the dough/butter, it rose while in the fridge. That’s proper?
Yes and yes. It’s normal because there is yeast in the fridge, so it will slowly rise. 🙂
Jo, you are an inspiration for all of us cooks whether we are neophytes or seasoned, I am one of the latter. The thought that you have put into creating your website and easy to follow directions to your recipes is stellar. You leave out nothing. Impeccable photography. Step by step directions and most importantly additional text on substitutes for ingredients and options to finish the recipes. But I wanted to thank you for your integrity in producing your amazing blog and wish you and your husband continued success!!! -camille
Thank you, Camille! Your comment means a lot to me. 🙂
Can I just say that husband and I love your tofu Drunken Noodles. It’s so good! It’s a bomb! It’s our go-to dinner whenever we want a break from meat. Hubby is not a fan of meatless meals at all. This dish converted him, so thanks a lot!
My pleasure, so glad you enjoy it! 🙂
Just seen your pumpkin pie recipe and as I love pumpkin would so lie to try it
Do have a recipe for a pumpkin pie but not with a crust and “pumpkin pie spice”
Here is South Africa I have never seen Pumpkin pie spice so was super excited
when I saw your recipe to make the spice….so want to try this!!
You can try this recipe here: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/pumpkin-pie-with-graham-cracker-crust/
I also have a recipe for pumpkin pie spice here: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/pumpkin-pie-spice/
I like your recipe for the Argentinian Matambre and will be doing it.
However, I did not enjoy your use of the expression “quasi chimichurri sauce”.
It read like an apology for not making “real” chmichurri.
Might I suggest you coin your own name for the sauce since you adapted it?
Jiffy-chimi?
Jiffy-churri?
Gimme-churri?
Gimme-chimi?
or
Demi-churri? / Semi-churri?
Take ownership and be proud of your innovation.
cheers and bon appetit!
I am 70, and because of you, I have started to bake bread again, much to the delight of my daughter, her wife and my food picky 10 year old grandchildren! Maybe too much…per their request, I now bring them dinner once a week that MUST include one of your breads or yeast rolls, and things like your lasagna soup or brown sugar garlic chicken or this week’s meal, broccoli soup! I I would REALLY appreciate your hard backed cookbook as (I hate to admit it) but at my age, making a recipe from an email is hard for me, so I have to copy everything on paper first. Sorry this comment is so long, but you do an amazing job!
Can you explain what the delay is in getting your cookbook? I ordered it 6 months ago and delivery keeps getting delayed. Starting to feel like giving up.
From what I’ve been told, just like with everything else you order now, the delays are due to COVID, so it’s out of our control.