Classics for a reason: crispy mustard chicken, Singapore noodles and ambrosia salad
My column this week mines the past for crispy mustard chicken with bread crumbs, a fresh take on a retro classic that I confess I never tasted until I was an adult. When I was growing up, my mother was far too busy trying new recipes and ingredients (sun-dried tomatoes, chicken Marbella, anything with oat bran … oh, the ’80s!) to loop back to meals from her own childhood, even the good ones.
My version of crumby chicken — zipped up with garlicky mustard and buttery panko — is an attempt to close the loop. Give it a try and let me know how it compares to your favorite childhood chicken recipe. I’m at hellomelissa@nytimes.com.
Featured Recipe
Crispy Mustard Chicken With Bread Crumbs
Another midcentury classic, Singapore noodles, was said to have been created in Hong Kong by cooks wanting to change up the flavors of traditional Cantonese dishes. Hetty Lui McKinnon tweaks it even further by adding charred scallions to her 20-minute vegetarian version, which accent the curry powder, garlic and soy sauce already in the pan. It’s a speedy and delightful meal you can throw together from pantry staples and whatever vegetables you have on hand.
Traveling forward to the 1990s, did you ever have Nobu’s miso cod? The dish became a viral hit of its time when the restaurant opened in TriBeCa in 1994, and for good reason. The combination of miso paste, sake and mirin works magic on the silky fish fillets, singeing under the broiler until the edges blacken and the glaze turns savory and caramelized. In Martha Rose Shulman’s miso fish, she shortens the marinating time of the original from a few days to a few hours. This means you can make this for dinner tonight using any fish you like.
Or perhaps a hearty soup would be the thing to usher in your November? Lidey Heuck has a new recipe for tortellini soup, made with store-bought pasta in a creamy tomato broth. She stirs in grated Parmesan and chopped fresh herbs to add freshness and verve, and throws in spinach to give the soup enough vegetable cred to skip serving a salad alongside. Use kale or other favorite leafy greens in place of the spinach.
Also meatless and adaptable, Kay Chun’s bean and cheese burritos can be made with either pinto or black beans, simmered with pico de gallo or salsa and smoked paprika for depth. Serve these easy crowd-pleasers with a dash of hot sauce as a fiery contrast to the creamy refried beans and melted Cheddar tucked into the flour tortillas. (For more weeknight crowd-pleasers, be sure to check out our Weeknight 100.)
Let’s go retro again for dessert, with Naz Deravian’s ambrosia salad, truly food for the gods with its mix of mandarin orange segments, pineapple and mini marshmallows swathed in sweetened sour cream. The maraschino cherries are traditional and time-honored, so don’t even contemplate leaving them out lest you annoy the gods — which, as all of ancient mythology attests, is never a good idea.
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That’s all for now, and I’ll see you on Monday.
