Interview: Quad Webb (‘Sister Circle,’ ‘Married to Medicine’) releases first cookbook

She'll be at the Buckhead Barnes & Noble at 7 p.m. this Thursday, May 9, for a book signing. (You can also buy copies here.)

“This cookbook has been in the making for two years,” Quad said last week at 11Alive headquarters, where “Sister Circle” (TV One nationally and 11Alive locally) is shot. “It was a lot of trials and tribulations. I do want the masses to know about it. I feel like it’s a sense of inspiration.”

She was inspired by fans on her social media who would see her posting dishes she made and requesting recipes. So she put together 100 recipes, from ahi tuna ceviché to chicken sliders to blackened sea scallops to red wine braised pot roast.

Working on the book just reminded her of her mother. “We would spend quality time in the kitchen catching up on what’s going on in the neighborhood or school,” she said. “She never made cooking seem like a taxing chore. It was always fun. It was exciting.”

And cooking has a place of solace as she's going through her divorce with Dr. Gregory Lunceford.

“Cooking is a very tranquil place for me,” she said. “I’m at peace. I have my music going. I have a glass of wine. It’s really a joy for me to create.”

Her favorite place to get ingredients? DeKalb Farmer’s Market. She goes once a month and fills her freezer. “It’s clean and they’re passionate about putting out good product,” she said. “I can get everything I need in one place.”

Cooking is also a reminder of her dad, to whom she dedicated the book.

She recalled at age 11 cooking salmon croquettes but forgetting to de-bone the fish. “He was always building me up,” she said. “He ate those croquettes and quietly spit out the bones without complaining. I was sure he’d end up having to go to the dentist!”

Webb said her cookbook does not hew to a particular cuisine. She is from Memphis and there are Southern touches, she said, but it’s more “all American.”

The challenges were putting the recipes together in a clear, concise fashion so there were no chance for confusion. She also had friends and families test out the recipes to ensure they could replicate what she intended to convey. The lobster mac & cheese, she noted, was especially difficult to translate into a recipe. “It was a challenge to take recipes out of my head and put them on paper,” Webb said.

Like almost every person whose fame rests upon reality TV, Webb wants to be known more than that woman on “Married to Medicine.”

For her, both this cookbook and the talk show provide fresh avenues for her to reach beyond that Bravo audience and show she’s a multi-dimensional human being.

And while there is a trope that reality TV kills marriages, she does not blame “Married to Medicine” for her issues.

“I wouldn’t do that,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it was the reason for the demise.”

She was more frustrated by the way some of the “Married to Medicine” castmates attacked her, rather than supported her, during the ordeal last season.

"I was trying to hold it tighter, allowing myself to process what was happening," Webb said. "My castmates wouldn't allow me do to that. They were looking to judge, to criticize, to blame. They were supposed to be friends." (She is currently not fans of Mariah Huq, Toya Bush-Harris and Simone Whitmore.)

So far, she said this current season shooting has been low key to date. “The phoenix rises from the ashes,” she said. “God has been blessing me in more ways than one. It’s early in the game but it’s been pleasant so far.”

And if you imagine "Sister Circle" as being "The View" redux behind the scenes, it's not, she said. "This is a true, loving, compassionate sisterhood," she noted, featuring co-hosts Rashan Ali, Syleena Johnson and newcomer Trina Braxton. "We don't compare ourselves. We celebrate everyone."

BOOK SIGNING

Quad Webb for her new cookbook

7 p.m.

Barnes & Noble

2900 Peachtree Road NE Suite 310

Atlanta, GA 30305

404-261-7747