Good morning. I had some wild salmon thawing in the refrigerator and was all set for Sunday supper: peanut butter-glazed salmon and green beans (above). Peanut butter is a smart shortcut ingredient, used to anchor the savory five-ingredient sauce. But then a neighbor stopped by with some tuna he’d caught 55 miles off Brooklyn in the blazing sun: a couple of collars, some loin, some scrapings for tuna tartare. I thanked him and came up with a new plan. (But you should make that salmon tonight.)
I was most excited for the collar, a fatty cut that comes from between the gills and the head. Jump at the chance to cook one, if you can get it from your fishmonger or someone who fishes offshore. No recipe required: Broil, grill or roast it under a light sprinkle of salt until it’s soft and glistening, perfect for picking at with chopsticks or a fork. You could paint the finished collar with teriyaki sauce, but I think it gets in the way of the pure flavor of the wildest fish. I might, though, make a dipping sauce for the scraps: soy sauce, mirin and lime juice, with perhaps a spoonful of sambal oelek for heat.
Tuesday
Chicken Caprese is a terrific riff on the classic Italian salad of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, here enlivened with roast chicken and pesto. The recipe calls for chicken breasts, and they’re great. But I’m telling you: Try it with thighs.
Wednesday
You probably don’t need a recipe to make a fried egg quesadilla, because I’m betting you know how to fry an egg and make a quesadilla. This is a good night to do both.
Thursday
Sure, you can roast sweet potatoes. Many do. But check out what happens when you steam them for sweet potatoes with tahini butter. That’s an outstanding weeknight dinner with a green salad on the side.
Friday
And then you can head into the weekend with these jalapeño grilled pork chops and cilantro rice. “This recipe is amazing,” a subscriber named Mark wrote in a note on our site. “I loved this dish and will make again.”
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Now, it’s a far cry from braising liquids and the scent of butter turning brown, but our Margaret Lyons put me on to the sixth and final season of “Peaky Blinders,” on Netflix, and I’m glad she did. Maybe it’s not the show it was at the start, but as Margaret writes: “It remains ominous and tragic, though, its haunted beauty intact, with air so thick that cigarette smoke doesn’t rise, fog so heavy that the horses seem to exhale extra hard.”
