A cookbook and a keeper dinner recipe
Everything I've cooked so far in the new book by Emily Weinstein and NYT Cooking
Bonjour! Bonjour!
I can remember when friends would say that if they got one good make-it-often recipe out of a book, they were happy. If they got more, they were thrilled. But things have changed. We have so many more choices and we want so much more. When Julie Powell cooked her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogged about it, it was so unusual that the feat was turned into a movie, Julie & Julia. In 2007 or ‘08, when Tuesdays with Dorie formed to bake through my book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, and post the bakes on the members’ blogs, it was unheard of — it was all so new that legal experts chimed in about the propriety of it and, of course, the effect it would have on book sales. People thought it would hurt sales, but nope — oh, the lessons we’ve learned in the decades since this started.
Did Julie love everything she made from Julia’s book? Nope. Did the TwDers love everything from mine? Nope. It’s impossible to have a book with 300 recipes (I think that’s how many BFMHTY had — to which, I say YIKES!) and to have everybody love everything. I’m delighted and deeply grateful that Tuesdays with Dorie is still baking from my books — it’s remarkable — thank you, “a whisk and a spoon” Steph — so I’d like to assume that they’ve found some recipes they liked and marked them with the word “keeper.”
Easy Weeknight Dinners
If Emily Weinstein, who is the editor of NYT Cooking and New York Times Food, had asked me to suggest a name for her new cookbook, I’d have said “Keepers” — I’ve only had the book for a couple of weeks and I’ve already marked a bunch of recipes with that coveted word. Easy Weeknight Dinners lives up to its promise — just as it says, it delivers “100 fast, flavor-packed meals for busy people who still want something good to eat.”
The book is smart and easy to use — I love how each chapter is devoted to an ingredient and within the chapter the recipes go from shortest get-it-on-the-table time to longest, with none more than an hour and most a lot shorter. I love the lists that help you decide what to cook. And most of all — and most important of all — I love the recipes.
Great Easy-to-Make Dinners From Cooks We Know, Love and Trust
I was a charter subscriber to New York Times Cooking — maybe you were, too. As soon as Sam Sifton, the genius behind the app, announced what he was up to, I signed on. Over the years, I’ve watched it get better and better. I think of it as the gold-standard of recipe sites. For sure, it’s the one I turn to first. And now, it’s in the hands of the remarkable Emily Weinstein.
Emily is both the editor of two important sections of the Times, the author of the NYT Cooking newsletter, Five Weeknight Dishes, and the mother of two little girls. She’s the chief cook in the family and so when she says she’s chosen meals that you truly can cook on a weeknight, I believe her.
And, if you know NYT Cooking, then you know that she had recipes from the best in the business to choose from. There are recipes from, among other stars, Melissa Clark — of course, Samantha Seneviratne, Yossy Arefi, Genevieve Ko, Eric Kim, Ali Slagle, Hetty Lui McKinnon, Colu Henry and more and more. It’s a gift to find the contributions of so many extraordinarily talented people in one book.
What I’ve Cooked
When I came upon some of the recipes in the book, I felt as though I’d run into old friends — I’ve loved the work of the writers for years. Others, which I thought I knew, called to me in a more immediate way because I was seeing them up close and in book form. One of the lists of recipes is “Emily’s Most Repeated Weeknight Dinners at Home” and I smiled when I realized that she and I overlapped a bit. From her list and mine, I’ve made Garlicky Chicken with Lemon-Anchovy Sauce (you know my love of anchovies); Sheet-Pan Salmon and Broccoli with Sesame and Ginger; Sesame Salmon Bowls; Sheet-Pan Sausage with Peppers and Tomatoes; and the impossible to resist and very clever Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella.
I’ve got the gnocchi recipe for you (scroll, scroll).
Over the weekend I made Hetty Lui McKinnon’s Cold Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce — I didn’t finish the dish with cilantro, but we’d almost polished it off before I realized I’d forgotten it.
I made the Tajín Grilled Chicken, but with shrimp. I’ve made it a few times. I’ve made Eric Kim’s Sheet-Pan Bibimbap. Oh, and Hetty’s Honey-Glazed Mushrooms with Udon. I can’t count the number of times I’ve made that dish — and thank you, Hetty, for introducing me to shelf-stable udon noodles. I’m now never without them.
Well, I haven’t cooked through the whole book, but I just might — I love it.
Today is Election Day. I hope you voted. I mailed-in my ballot from Paris and because of the time difference, I won’t know anything about the results before I go to bed, but then, you might not either. And so, I’m going to cook. Cooking is always a good idea.
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CRISPY GNOCCHI WITH BURST TOMATOES AND MOZZARELLA
Adapted from Easy Weeknight Dinners by Emily Weinstein, editor of NYT Cooking
Get a copy from Bookshop.org or Amazon
GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE YOU START
Total prep and cooking time is 25 minutes.
This recipe is by Ali Slagle, and here’s what she says about it:
Store-bought gnocchi can be quickly pan-fried for an exciting mix of crispy outsides and chewy middles, no boiling required. Here the gnocchi are studded with juicy tomatoes and melty pockets of mozzarella. Use cherry tomatoes, which are reliably flavorful year-round — unlike larger varieties, like beefsteak tomatoes, which can be watery. (That said, taste your tomatoes, and if they’re more tart than sweet, add ½ teaspoon sugar in step 3.) You’ll toss the tomatoes with browned butter, red pepper flakes and garlic, then hit them with a little heat so they’ll burst into a bright sauce.
Makes 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 (12- to 18-ounce) packages shelf-stable or refrigerated potato gnocchi
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, plus more for garnish
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, such as Sungold (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup thinly sliced or torn fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish (optional)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut or torn into 1/2- inch pieces
DIRECTIONS
Heat the broiler with a rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the gnocchi to the pan in a single layer, breaking apart any that are stuck together. Cover and cook, undisturbed, until the gnocchi are golden brown on the underside, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and gnocchi.
Add the butter to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until golden brown and toasty, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a few grinds of pepper, reducing the heat slightly if necessary to avoid scorching. Add the tomatoes and 3 tablespoons water and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the tomatoes have softened and the liquid has slightly thickened, 4 to 6 minutes. Smash the tomatoes as they burst to help them along.
Return the seared gnocchi to the pan, add the basil (if using) and stir to coat, then shake into an even layer. Top evenly with the mozzarella and drizzle lightly with oil.
Broil until the cheese is melted and browned in spots, 2 to 4 minutes. Top with basil, red pepper flakes and black pepper if you’d like and serve immediately.
Thank you, Dorie, for your kindness, wisdom, and support of so many cookbook authors. Your spirit and joy come through in everything you do.❤️
Cooking (and reading Dorie) is always an excellent idea.