The world needs to get it together, if only because I simply cannot keep writing semi-jokey newsletters about how everything’s a hot mess. That’s really the most important thing. That these newsletters stay fresh. It’s like…help me help you, ya know?
Anyone else out there pretty over the news cycle? Anyone else need to break the habit of refreshing Twitter? Anyone else toggling between total outrage and utter numbness, with very little in between? Thought so. I’m also kind of over comfort cooking. I want regular, Before Times cooking. And yet… I still need comfort. We all do. Instead of classic mac-n-cheese-esque comforts, though, I’ve found joy and relief (and thus a somewhat unclenched jaw) in unexpected places.
I’ve found comfort in the ease—and impressiveness—of Yasmin Fahr’s tomato-poached fish. It’s one of those recipes that makes you so happy to be cooking. I can feel my tension headache dissipating. I’ve found it in orecchiette with burrata and cherry tomatoes, because of how laissez-faire the process is and how delicious the result.
Roasting dinner in parchment is very satisfying; the specialness of opening up a package of chicken with carrots and raisins or Portuguese-style fish with beans isn’t lost in a pandemic. (Nor is the insanely easy cleanup thereafter.) Similarly low effort/big reward/total adaptability are sheet pan dinners like baked chicken and ricotta meatballs and sesame soy salmon (pop veggies on the sheet pan, next to the salmon, and make a full meal of it).
Themes might help? Sounds cheesy, yes, but a theme could nudge you into making a night of it (and staying off the internet for a while). How about breakfast for dinner: Broccoli fritters, scrambled eggs, and bacon? Add some 2-ingredient biscuits and an on-the-nose affogato for dessert. Or pick a flavor you’re craving and run with it. Curry? Chicken coconut. Yam and plantain peanut curry. Shrimp curry with cauliflower. Or a geographic region: Tuscan food, Provençal food, Thai food. If we can’t actually travel…well, you get the idea.
For lunch, I have become addicted to cottage cheese with this granola, a drizzle of honey, sliced plums on top. Another recent lunchtime success is steam-in-bag rice (yep), seasoned with a pinch of salt and pad of butter, and topped with sliced avocado, a sprinkle of Everything but the Bagel seasoning (or furikake), and a quick fried egg. (And another cup of coffee.) Look, I never said it was special. I just said it does the trick, okay?
The biggest culinary joys, of the last few weeks at least, have been in trying new flavors with my son and with friends. I splurged on that really good balsamic vinegar, very lightly drizzled it over vanilla ice cream served with strawberries and my son’s review (he’s almost 5) was “this is crazy good, it has perfect flavor! Everyone should try it.” A moment that transcends the dumpster fire news cycle, for sure. Same goes for meeting friends at a taco truck, eating messy, drippy camarones and carnitas, our masks pulled low, sitting on the curb. It’s not glamorous, but it is happy-making.
Cool story. Now, give me fun links.
Even Ina [Garten] Gets Sick of Cooking (TASTE)
Escape your day-to-day with Ottolenghi & The Cakes of Versailles (Amazon, AppleTV, Youtube, etc)
Dance like the pop star you could have been, with Ryan Heffington’s Sweatfests (IGTV)
Tips for hosting better Zoom cocktail parties, cause we’re in this for a while (Medium)
I am hopelessly devoted to the cookbook, Bitter Honey (Amazon)
And I like Headspace Singles to clear my mind and *try to* stay present in whatever I’m doing (Headspace)
The status of the shits women have left to give (McSweeney’s)
This one’s for the ladies. Cannot endorse these bras enough. (Cuup)
There’s not much time left. VOTE!!! (Vote Save America)
Lastly, we’ve restocked the shop! Personally hoping someone gives me the tequila explorers’ club for any of the upcoming holidays, ahem.
Last, but never least… This week’s cooking party
This one’s got hard rock-meets-Italy vibes and I think that’s a very underrated combination.
Playlist This is Van Halen, because RIP Eddie Van Halen
Pre-Dinner Drink An Americano 2.0, a proper aperitivo with olives and crumbles of a hard cheese, like Pecorino, for snacking
Menu Start with a beet, pomegranate, and feta salad which perfectly straddles the summer / fall divide. Then penne with Marcella Hazan’s legendary tomato sauce topped with burrata. A pot of steamed salty, buttery, briny littleneck clams next. Simple chewy almond cookies for dessert, served with an espresso or cognac for extra gold stars.
Wine A light red wine from Sicily (Nero D’Avola) or Puglia (Negroamaro), but a Sangiovese would do in a pinch. Or a Lambrusco.
Cook and eat well, to keep from screaming into the void too much.
xoxo,
An oldie, but a goodie