Last updated on March 13th, 2019 at 02:24 pm
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 – 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
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:
Kenneth Silver says
July 13, 2019 at 9:44 amHi Jo,
Love many of your recipes & have printed off many that my wife & I have used.
I was curious regarding your Morrocan chicken recipe – what size tagine did you use for the recipe, as I have been wanting to buy one for many years ?
Thanks.
Joanna Cismaru says
July 13, 2019 at 10:58 amThanks, Kenneth! The tagine I have is a 2 1/2 quart tagine! Here’s the amazon link: https://amzn.to/2ldRUZ0
Jan says
July 9, 2019 at 12:01 pmTrying your Butter Chicken recipe for an informal party. How long is it safe to keep on the “Keep Warm” setting so people can help themselves right from the Instant Pot. Thanks.
Joanna Cismaru says
July 9, 2019 at 6:44 pmHi Jan! I’m not 100% sure on this, but I believe it should be fine for 2 to 4 hours as long as the keep warm setting is on.