It’s Cookie Week, haven’t you heard? We just published seven new cookie recipes with videos on New York Times Cooking, and there are many more from years past on our YouTube channel, in case you want to revisit Eric Kim’s frosted sugar cookies or Vaughn Vreeland’s eggnog snickerdoodles. Friends are reaching out to tell me which ones they’re baking from the new batch, and I love it.
It’s also the moment for potato latkes and the other delicacies of Hanukkah. I personally feel that latkes can make an excellent dinner themselves if they’re properly adorned; I top mine with a schmear of sour cream and a piece of smoked salmon, though no one would be mad about a little caviar or a poached egg. If you’re looking for a meatier main course, Melissa Clark’s paprika chicken below would do nicely, and Yewande Komolafe’s new doughnuts would be a glorious finale or party treat.
As always, I’m here at dearemily@nytimes.com if you’d like to reach me. I love to hear from you.
2. Baked Salmon and Dill Rice
A large handful of emerald-green dill makes this dish from Naz Deravian as pretty as it is fragrant. The salmon, flavored with lemon and chile flakes, bakes directly on top of the rice for efficient cooking and cleanup.
3. Sesame-Brown Butter Udon Noodles
In this wafu pasta — a.k.a. Japanese-style pasta — Ali Slagle tosses udon with spinach, brown butter and soy sauce, with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds to finish. That’s it! So good!
4. Winter Squash and Wild Mushroom Curry
Madhur Jaffrey is the queen of Indian cooking in the United States, having written influential cookbooks stretching back 50 years. This recipe from David Tanis builds on one of hers, and it’s both sumptuous and simple to make. (While fancy wild mushrooms are nice, there’s no need to use them to make this dish sing. The regular mushrooms at the supermarket are just fine.)
