What to Cook This Week - The New York Times

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What to Cook This Week - The New York Times

What to Cook This Week - The New York Times

Posted: 02 May 2021 07:30 AM PDT

Good morning. Eric Kim has a lovely story in The Times about moving home to Atlanta to live with his mother during the pandemic, and how they cooked together and what he learned: an inheritance of kimchi and jjigaes. The lessons went both ways. When Eric's mom tasted his sheet-pan bibimbap (above), she told him, "I'm never doing it the other way again."

That's reason enough to try the dish for dinner tonight, I think, though it could wait until a weeknight and you could make Jean Kim's kimchi jjigae with ribs instead, following her lead to blanch the ribs with ginger first, and to bloom the fiery gochugaru in butter. It's an extraordinary stew. Cook's choice — but make one of them! This is, Eric channels Nigella Lawson to say, proper home food.

On Monday, give this salad of beets, lentils and Cheddar a try. The cheese is a surprising and delicious addition, and, if you can find pre-packed roasted beets at the market, it's a superfast meal to boot.

Tuesday would be good, if you have the time and didn't make ribs on Sunday, to put together this slow-cooker meal of hot honey ribs. If you don't have time or you did make ribs (or both!), give thought to miso-glazed fish. Or risotto with sausage and parsley. Worthy meals.

How about a pasta stir-fry with five-spice mushrooms and broccolini for Wednesday's meal? Lots and lots of possible modifications in the notes below the recipe, if you don't have all the ingredients.

I like the idea of honey-roasted carrots with barley and spiced tahini for Thursday night, and the tahini dressing is rich enough that the dish can stand as a main course. (The recipe calls for cooking the barley in water. For an extra punch, cook it in the richest stock you have on hand.)

And then on Friday night, you can make garlic chicken with guasacaca sauce, a Venezuelan salsa of avocado, herbs and lime that's bright and silky against the crisp chicken.

Many thousands more recipes to cook this week are on display and in the back-room coffers of New York Times Cooking. You do need a subscription to access them, yes. In return, though, we'll give you a recipe box and the ability to save recipes to it, even recipes that don't come from our site. We'll let you organize them, and rate them, and leave notes on them. We'll even teach you how to make pizza.

You can watch our videos on YouTube. You can see our best photographs — and your best photographs! — on Instagram. And you can follow our reporting on Twitter. Are you on Facebook? We are.

We will be standing by to help if you run into trouble with a recipe, or with our technology. Just write: cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. (You can also write to me: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every message sent.)

Now, it's nothing to do with garam masala or white barbecue sauce, but if you haven't read our Michael Kimmelman's fascinating look at the fight over a billion-dollar parking lot in the South Street historic district in Manhattan, you really ought to. It's about much more than a parking lot.

Closer to the kitchen, you should check out this terrific story by Ute Eberle in Hakai, about the surprising rise and resilience of fish sticks, United States patent number US2724651A.

I liked Anubha Momin's memoir, in The Walrus, about her architect mother and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Finally, old music to play us into a new week. This is Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli, "J'attendrai Swing," from 1939. Music to cook by. I'll be back on Monday.

What to Cook This Weekend - The New York Times

Posted: 30 Apr 2021 07:30 AM PDT

Good morning. The Kentucky Derby is scheduled to run on Saturday, 6:57 p.m. Eastern time at Churchill Downs in Louisville. (I'm no handicapper, but you know my money's on Soup and Sandwich!)

Naturally, you'll want to drink a mint julep as you watch, if you're watching, but I'm more interested in the meal that could follow: Hot Browns, maybe, or some pimento cheese and deviled eggs. You could fill endive spears with Benedictine, follow with fried chicken — or, if you happen to be outside, with fried chicken biscuits (above). And fudgy bourbon balls for dessert? I think so, yes.

That's Saturday night, for some. Others may prefer this terrific recipe for chicken katsu, with a simple tonkatsu sauce that you can use for loads of other recipes. (It's great on karaage, Japanese fried chicken. It's great on plain rice!) Or you could make adasi, a Persian dish of simmered lentils that's often eaten for breakfast in Iran, but that combines beautifully with a hard-boiled egg at lunch or dinner. And there's always spring tofu soup. That's a fabulous weekend meal.

Whatever you make, I think it'd be great if you could get these slow-cooker steel-cut oats going before you pad off to watch a screen before bed. It's a great way to wake up to perfectly cooked oatmeal, fuel for a day in the kitchen in advance of the week to come.

You could make a lasagna for the freezer. You could assemble stuffed peppers to put in the fridge and cook on Monday night. You could bake brown butter cornbread, make chili to go with it, use the leftovers as the topping for some baked eggs with kale, bacon and cornbread crumbs. And if you're working from home next week, or if you'll be at home next week, this roast beef recipe makes for amazing lunchtime sandwiches. You could make that as well and, if you're not going with chili for dinner, finish up the day with a shredded tofu and shiitake stir-fry. It's an excellent meal.

Many thousands more ideas for what to cook this week await you on New York Times Cooking, at least once you've acquired a subscription to the site and app. We think that's worth your time and money, obviously, but we don't just offer you recipes in return. There's also storage and organization, the ability to rate recipes and to leave notes on them to the benefit of yourself and others, and a great deal of instruction for those who want to learn better kitchen tradecraft. How to make pasta, for instance, or how to make soup.

You can also find us, as the internet sharpies say, "off platform." We dance around on YouTube and link to our news articles and restaurant reviews on Twitter. We post beautiful photography — ours and yours — on Instagram. And yes, we're on Facebook, too. Please join us.

We are available, as well, should anything go awry while you're cooking or using our site and apps. Write us at cookingcare@nytimes.com and someone will get back to you. (You can also write to me: foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every message sent.)

Now, it's a long, long way from fennel and thyme, but you should read Allison P. Davis on the courtship, marriage and divorce of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, on Vulture. Gossip! I'd missed it.

See what you think of "The Investigation," a police procedural on HBO that arose out of the murder of the Swedish journalist Kim Wall in 2017, which you may remember as "the submarine case."

Alice Randall guest-edited the latest issue of the Oxford American, a food issue. Start with her editor's letter.

Finally, here are the Bottle Rockets, "Thousand Dollar Car." There's truth to it.

Enjoy all that and I'll see you on Sunday. (Soup and Sandwich, folks! Don't forget to place your bets!)

Mother's Day Gift Guide: Best Virtual Cooking Classes - Forbes

Posted: 01 May 2021 05:10 AM PDT

The pandemic has turned almost everyone into a home cook.

And with the Big Pause in international travel, the number and range of virtual cooking classes have exploded.

Sponsored by a mix of chefs, restaurateurs, cooking schools, kitchenware retailers, tour operators, guides, hoteliers, home cooks, and others, these classes can transport your mother or any other gift recipient to places they would love to visit.

Ironically, the problem in choosing a virtual cooking class may well be one of over-choice! The best virtual cooking class for Mother's Day will depend on your mom's passions and your pocketbook.

MORE FOR YOU

Casa Artusi is a center of gastronomic culture in Forlimpopoli (Emilia Romagna), Italy devoted to preserving the traditions of Italian home cooking. The school is named after Pellegrino Artusi, often called the "Godfather of Italian Home Cooking," who wrote the first cookbook showcasing the variety of regional dishes.

Online classes last approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. They can be private (minimum of 2 people) or even as large as 60 participants. The precise length of the class depends on the recipe being made. 

Casa Artusi provides participants with video conferencing software, a list of ingredients and tools, and a recording of the lesson after the class. Attendees can either follow along step-by-step or cook at home afterward using the recording. Lessons are offered in both Italian and English, a great chance to brush up on the language at the same time. Prices start at 80 euros per person.

Cuiline (International)

Tamar Lowell, CEO of Access Culinary Trips, designs boutique cooking vacations for food lovers. Apropos of the pandemic, she created Cuiline online cooking classes, which enables her to bring the joys of culinary travel to her clients' homes, while simultaneously supporting the expert chefs with whom she has worked over the years (some whose restaurants are now closed, temporarily or permanently.)

A month-by-month calendar on the website details the wide variety of classes and provides background information on each chef. On Mother's Day alone, Cuiline classes will feature the cuisines of Italy, Spain, Costa Rica and New Orleans. As one example, Chef Scott's Mother's Day Tropical Fusion class will be streamed from his kitchen in sunny La Fortuna, Costa Rica. It  starts with a refreshing mojito and includes Patacones with Black Bean Puree, Cashew Encrusted Sea Bass with Mango Salsa, and a Chocolate-Espresso Pineapple Flambe. 

Cuiline Goodie Boxes include home delivery of premium pre-measured ingredients, sent in advance, along with a shopping list for fresh ingredients. Most classes are three hours long and are limited to 15 households. The three-hour classes are priced at $185 for two meals.

Bangkok-born Chef Nikky Phinyawatana is a Thai-Texan restaurateur based in Dallas, who brings Asian fusion style experiences into homes. As she teaches participants how to cook tasty meals, they simultaneously learn about Thai culture.

Each two-hour class covers various Thai dishes (with Nikky's twist), including options for those with keto, vegan, gluten-free, and other dietary restrictions. 

When feasible, class participants receive all ingredients individually pre-packaged, including sauces and specialty ingredients. Otherwise, they receive a specific shopping list to make the experience as seamless as possible. Classes start at $29.

Big Mozz (Italian-American)

Big Mozz, a beloved mozzarella vendor in New York City's Chelsea Market, offers on-demand virtual mozzarella classes. These 45-minute classes can be booked for your mom solo or as an activity for someone else to do with her. Group classes are also available for friends and colleagues.

Participants learn how to stretch and create a creamy finished product. They receive a mozzarella-making kit delivered to their door, as well as recipes and pairing suggestions to go with the homemade cheese. Prices start at $59 per person. 

Based in New York City, the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) offers "recreational cooking classes" for food enthusiasts. Previously only offered in-person, the classes are now available to cooks of all levels located anywhere in the country. 

Specific offerings change monthly: Some examples of classes offered in May include Middle Eastern, Moroccan, Thai, and Indian cooking, in addition to lessons in making paella and bouillabaisse. The full schedule is available online. 

These virtual classes are taught by the same ICE culinary school instructors who teach future chefs in the school's career programs. Each two-hour long class costs $50 and is capped at around 20 participants. Prior to the class, students receive ingredient and equipment lists as well as recipes to cook along with the chef. 

Ciao Andiamo is a boutique travel outfitter specializing in insider journeys to Italy. Two of the company's co-owners, Cristiana Chiacchierini and Max Brunelli, are a husband-wife team based in Umbria. Cristiana is an at-home chef as well as a certified sommelier. 

In a one-hour online class, participants learn authentic Italian recipes passed down for generations in a small group setting (with an average class size of five participants). Private classes are also an option.

The classes are taught in a casual setting at the home of the Ciao Andiamo team, offering hands-on lessons in Italian cooking and wine tasting. Prices start at $35.

Seattle-based retailer Sur La Table sells anything anyone would want in their kitchens but the company also offers interactive gourmet online cooking classes led by expert chefs. Each 90-120 minute class is a live Zoom session, and attendees are free to ask questions as they follow along. Not only will they learn a new recipe, but they are also likely to improve their cooking techniques. 

Classes range from ethnic dishes, to pastries,to cocktails and more. In celebration of Mother's Day, on May 6th, Martha Stewart will be preparing a Spring Pea Soup, individual Cheese Souffles, a fresh Green Salad with Vinaigrette and Rhubarb Raspberry Crisp for dessert.  

Classes start at $29 and the gift recipient can have as many cooks in the kitchen as she likes. Celebrity led classes start at $49 per seat. 

Delicious Experiences is an online marketplace offering virtual culinary experiences. The website showcases a wide range of specialty cooking classes and guided tastings, led by more than 50 culinary professionals from around the globe. (There is even a class to help moms up their food photography game with an award-winning photographer based in Paris.) 

Culinary professionals featured on the site include Michelin star recipients, James Beard award-winners, National Brand Ambassadors, 50Best Winners, and Food & Wine magazine's best new chef.  

All sessions are private; they can be as intimate as one-on-one, or perhaps a group of friends/family that want to connect from a distance. Classes start at $125 and range from one hour to three, depending on the experience.

Atlas Obscura is a comprehensive database of the world's most wondrous places and foods, more than 22,000 of them so far. Now, this unique media and travel company is expanding its quest to inspire curiosity by creating virtual cooking classes and other online experiences.

Multi-course seminars allow food lovers to dig deeper into the hidden histories and traditions behind ancient recipes. In the latest online series, Sunday Sabor, Atlas Obscura transports participants to Spain with its partner Devour Tours. For example, the course in Medieval Catalan Cooking traces the roots of a 600-year-old eggplant recipe. The expert host analyzed cookbooks and traced the ingredients back through time.

New and fascinating interactive cooking classes are continually added to the platform.

Cooking dishes from Thailand, land of her birth, is a way of meditation for San Antonio woman - San Antonio Express-News

Posted: 03 May 2021 02:03 AM PDT

Cooking is how Jiraporn Namarsa meditates.

She doesn't sit or close her eyes or focus on breathing. Instead, Namarsa creates intricate desserts that require focus, time and artistry. These colorful desserts include Thong Yip (egg yolk-shaped flowers) and Luk Chup (mung bean paste candies). Cooking tethers her to Thailand, the land of her birth, and to Buddhism, which calms and humbles her.

Sharing her faith, food and culture with others has been Namarsa's passion since moving to the United States 31 years ago. She is selfless with her time, energy and skill.

Each morning, the 72-year-old prepares breakfast and lunch, which she delivers to Buddhist monks in the community. A tenet of her faith is to offer food to the monks to observe their sacrifice for others.

"I feel good that I can do many things for other people," Namarsa said. "And educate some people about the culture and my ability to teach at the same time."

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Preparing various dishes has soothed Namarsa's soul since she was 9. Her parents taught her the culinary arts at their home in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, and it wasn't long before she was preparing meals for the family.

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Namarsa grew up with three brothers and a sister who still live in Thailand. She was 16 when she met her husband, Somchai, in high school.

After graduating, Namarsa went on to teach biology in Thailand for 20 years. Her husband became a mechanical engineer. In 1990, the next chapter of her life moved her more than 8,000 miles away. The family, including her 13-year-old daughter, Somjira, moved to Clarksville, Tenn., when her husband helped open a tile-making factory. Eight years later, they moved to Wisconsin, where Namarsa had to drive three hours to a temple in Chicago.

Nowadays, Namarsa shares her recipes at Thai Topaz, owned by her son-in-law David Thanairongroj, in Castle Hills. With its wood carvings at the entrance and a tuk-tuk — a three-wheeled vehicle used in Thailand — the restaurant reminds Namarsa of her homeland.

Namarsa has spent time at the restaurant showing customers how she creates decorative desserts with a small paring knife. One specialty is tiny, fruit-shaped mung bean desserts. Using steamed mung beans, she molds the paste into miniature fruits that resemble oranges, cherries and mangoes. Food coloring makes the shiny fruit look like real produce.

The family also has hosted cultural events, such as Songkran, a water festival celebrating the start of the Thai New Year in April.

Thanairongroj, 46, has learned from his mother-in-law and shares her passion for passing on Thai customs. They've hosted students and held cooking classes at the restaurant, donating the proceeds to a temple.

"We want to bring people our traditions and not just food," Thanairongroj said.

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Last September, retired teacher Sue Scruggs, 70, wanted to learn the Thai language. She emailed Namarsa's son-in-law for help. After a few emails back and forth, Scruggs received good news — the restaurateur would put her in touch with his mother-in-law.

Namarsa started weekly lessons with Scruggs, teaching her the tones and alphabet of the language. Namarsa also shared how to prepare fruit and vegetable carvings, as well as her positive outlook on life.

Scruggs has joined Namarsa and her friends for service at a local temple, and she's taken part in the practice of everyone placing food in a large monk bowl for the giving of alms.

"She's the kind of teacher I would have liked to teach with," Scruggs said. "It's more than learning words — it's the excitement and understanding another culture. The Thai way is a way of compassion. It took me one day of being with her that I wanted to be a better person."

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Namarsa has kept her ties to Thailand, visiting once or twice each year and crocheting during the 12-hour flights. Last year, the pandemic prevented her from her annual visit, and Namarsa's mother died March 4 at the age of 106. Unable to be with her family, she remembered her mom at a traditional Thai funeral ceremony at a local temple.

She misses her mother, who created some of the first food carvings she ever saw. With just one child, Namarsa was able to invest hours into the meditative, culinary art form, unlike her mother, whose focus was on raising five children. And the memory of her mother lives on in the lessons Namarsa teaches family and friends.

On Fridays, early in the morning, Namarsa takes 10 to 15 minutes to prepare a light breakfast and gather a handmade flower arrangement that she delivers to the monks. She buys flowers with donations from the Thai community. After she arrives, she places the floral piece before a statue of Buddha. Namarsa is one of many who support the monks.

Each week, Namarsa's cycle of compassion continues. There's treasured time with her family, tutoring Scruggs, creating culinary masterpieces and finding inner peace through service to others.

"No matter who you are, you can be calm and peaceful," Namarsa said, "and be happy."

Namarsa said her family is always ready to share their Thailand experiences with residents. For more information about the family's Thai lessons, call 210-290-9833 or email thaitopaz2@gmail.com.

vtdavis@express-news.net


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