You can make the sauce a few days in advance—the flavor will only get better with time. Keep your pot in the fridge and reheat before serving.
Of all the various vinaigrettes and dressings in this book, this is probably the one my husband, Joe, and I make the most. It’s Caesar-ish, thanks to garlic and anchovy, while lots of lemon juice makes it bright and bracing. Dijon gives it a bit of creaminess without actual cream or cheese, and it comes together in a mortar and pestle, which gives it a rustic, extra-homemade quality. We’re anchovy enthusiasts, and if I had a soapbox to stand on to profess my zeal for the tiny fish, I would. I know they’re not for everyone, but if you like the savory bite of Caesar dressing, you’ll absolutely love this.
This white pozole recipe from comedian Dulcé Sloan of The Daily Show on Comedy Central is her quick go-to for days when she’s feeling under the weather. An extremely easy soup to make, made with chicken thighs, hominy, and aromatics, it might be your next comfort food as well. One word of advice, don’t skip the garnishes!
This recipe is made in about a 10-inch cast iron or carbon steel pan on the stove. It can easily be scaled up to six eggs, or to eight, just by increasing the ingredients and cooking it in a 12-inch pan instead. If you do increase it, make sure to use two cans of tomatoes so that there’s enough liquid in the sauce that it doesn’t burn while you’re cooking the eggs.
This is a choose-your-own-ending dessert. Made with the same base using the same cooking method, crème brûlée and crème caramel are like funhouse-mirror images of one another. Both are rich, delicate, vanilla-scented custards, but the former is topped with a hard, crackly caramel lid, while the latter is coated in a liquid caramel sauce that forms during baking (the caramel actually starts on the bottom, but becomes the top when inverted, like a flan). Would you rather cook the sugar on the stove to a deep amber color at the beginning and pour into ramekins for crème caramel, or use a torch to caramelize it at the very end for crème brûlée? The answer comes down to preference and comfort (and, possibly, your desire to own a torch).
When Major Jackson was fresh out of college, he found a Cajun restaurant in Philadelphia that had the best Chicken Big Mamou he’d ever had. When the restaurant closed he tried to recreate the recipe but it never came out quite right. That is, not until one of our producers did some digging and found the original recipe for him.
Serve with Rice and Tortillas, garnish with cilantro & lime
When I started dating my now husband, I didn’t cook him anything for like three months besides scrambled eggs and some toast. And so one day I was like, I really like him. I'm gonna show him that I like him and I decided to make him shrimp and grits and collard greens. This recipe for grits is simple and perfect when you want to have good, deeply savory grit. And please, I'm not even wading into the savory versus sweet grit conversation.
Pull out a big heavy stew pot and get some greens going on the back of your stove for wonderful mid-week eating à la Brittany Luse, cultural critic and host of It’s Been A Minute from NPR. Serve on top of Brittany’s Weekend Grits.