Hi there! Mia here, your trusty New York Times Cooking newsletter editor. I’m filling in for Melissa today and for Sam on Friday while they’re on vacation, and I’m chock-full of cookies — specifically the giant choco chunkies from Samantha Seneviratne’s new cookbook — and sparkling apple cider. Let’s do this!
Maybe it’s my California roots, but I can’t resist anything artichoke. (Shout out to Castroville, Calif., a pit stop on many family road trips.) A simply steamed artichoke, petals peeled off and swiped through mayo? Yes, please. And I’m always happy for jarred marinated artichoke hearts; I’ve been known to eat them straight from the jar and use the leftover tangy juice as salad dressing.
So this creamy spinach-artichoke chicken stew from Sarah DiGregorio calls to me. It takes a jar of oily, meaty artichoke hearts and freshens them up with loads of celery, dill and scallions, with a good scoop of cream cheese for richness. As the five-star rating and nearly 4,000 reviews prove, I’m not alone in my enthusiasm for, as Sarah puts it, “spinach-artichoke dip reimagined as a simple stovetop braise.” (“IT WAS FABULOUS!!!” writes Lorraine E. Harding, a reader; “Heaven,” says Liz.)
Featured Recipe
Creamy Spinach-Artichoke Chicken Stew
Now, Eric Kim has a wonderful new story in The Times about the boisterous, joyful, all-stops-pulled-out Christmas lunches put on by many Korean American churches. The spread reads like my list for Santa: “fried mandu and jeon, the various pan-fried fritters, patties and pancakes that line the buffet trays at Korean parties; japchae, janchi guksu and other party noodles; barbecued favorites like galbi, bulgogi and the spicy pork variant, dwaeji bulgogi; fancy braises like galbi jjim and dak bokkeumtang, otherwise known as dakdori tang; and all manner of soups and stews, but predominately miyeok guk, which is, in Korean cultures, traditionally eaten on one’s birthday.”
Eric’s new recipe for dwaeji bulgogi — spicy pork bulgogi — looks absolutely delicious. If my local Asian market doesn’t have minty perilla leaves, I’ll reach for butter lettuce. I don’t eat pork, so I’ll make mine with boneless skinless chicken thighs, which Eric confirmed is a go. (He also suggested salmon!)
There’s something about this time of year — the simultaneously sleepy but exciting stretch between the holidays and New Year’s Eve — that makes me crave meatballs. They’re cozy (all that sauce), cute (so plump!) and fun (rolling them into neat little spheres scratches that arts ‘n’ crafts itch). A big batch of Melissa Clark’s turkey meatballs in tomato sauce is exactly what this week needs. Served with garlic bread and a huge green salad, it makes for a no-fuss feast for friends; piled onto spaghetti and buried in a snowstorm of Parm, it’s a couch dinner to pair with a Miyazaki marathon.
I’ve lately developed the habit of keeping a head of cauliflower on hand. It’s inexpensive, lasts a good while in the fridge and forms the base of so many hearty vegetarian meals — bolognese, adobo, shawarma. Next on my cauliflower cook list is this aloo gobi, a new recipe from Naz Deravian. Combined with starchy potatoes, tomatoes and warm spices, cauliflower becomes a vegetarian side or main that is very much Big Hot Vegetable.
Let’s wrap up with pancakes. Specifically these pancakes from the Brooklyn restaurant Chez Ma Tante. I’m usually on Team Waffle — I like a bit of crunch, and I need those nooks and crannies to hold the irresponsible amount of maple syrup I’m pouring. But this recipe from Jake Leiber, adapted by Daniela Galarza, yields tender pancakes with crisp, fritter-like edges, the best of both worlds. With a generous mug of coffee and a couple of clementines, they make for a breakfast that is, in the parlance of my hometown, hella good.
