What to Cook This Week - The New York Times

Posted: 30 May 2021 07:30 AM PDT

Good morning. There's a lovely special section in the print edition of The Times today devoted to the joys of summer eating, and to the recipes the staffs of the Food desk and New York Times Cooking are looking forward to preparing in the coming weeks and months. Naturally it appears on our website as well, but see if you can't track down the analog version at a newsstand or library. It's a wonderful thing to see in print. And then cook from it!

Also in The Times this weekend, Tejal Rao has a great column about the chef Romy Gill, author of "Zaika: Vegan Recipes from India." In it, she writes about Gill's love of canned jackfruit, which she uses to make a sabzi (above) with a gravy of tomatoes and spices, caramelized onions and oil-popped mustard seeds. A sprinkling of amchur — unripe-mango powder — adds what Tejal characterizes as depth and tang.

I think you could get on that today, even if you have to add a trip to the market for a few ingredients. Maybe serve some toor dal on the side. Or a few roti? That'd be a very nice meal.

Monday is Memorial Day. If you can knock out the marinade today, jerk chicken could be on the menu tomorrow, with mango slaw. (Or you can try this other jerk chicken, with pickled bananas.) If not — I've already asked you to make sabzi, you're just going to make burgers and pico de gallo-covered hot dogs and brats for the holiday — that's just fine. But do yourself a favor and par-cook the brats in beer, with a lot of sliced onions, before grilling. They'll crisp up but stay plump and delicious that way, and you'll love them even more than usual.

Tuesday, I'm thinking, might be good for baked orzo with artichokes and peas. Or a one-pan roasted fish with cherry tomatoes.

On Wednesday, take a break. Order a plain pizza from wherever you order pizza, and an order of chicken tikka masala from wherever you order Indian food. Top the pizza with the chicken and sauce, and consume with a knife and fork. Seriously. You're welcome.

For Thursday's dinner, how about an herb-flecked polenta with corn, eggs and feta?

And then on Friday, you can head into the weekend with pork chops in lemon-caper sauce, one of my favorite recipes of the last few years, which Toni Tipton-Martin developed for her indispensable 2019 cookbook, "Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries of African American Cooking."

Thousands and thousands more recipes to cook this week await you on New York Times Cooking. You do, of course, need a subscription to access all of them. If you don't have one yet, I hope you will think about subscribing today. Your subscription is important. It allows our work to continue.

We are standing by to help if anything goes awry while you're cooking or using our technology. Just write us: cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you. (You can reach me at foodeditor@nytimes.com. I read every letter sent.)

Now, it's nothing to do with the price of saffron or the relative saltiness of kosher salts, but I think you're going to see "The Other Black Girl," by Zakiya Dalila Harris, on a lot of beaches this summer. You may want to get started on that.

A fascinating article that Longreads alerted me to: Vijai Maheshwari on "My Bizarre Reign as New York's King of 'Virgin Russian Hair,'" in Narratively.

Here's Jill Eisenstadt on "The Bennington Girl," in Guernica, and like everything she writes, it's just great: memoir and cultural criticism made one.

Finally, here's Jesse Royal featuring Vybz Kartel, "Rich Forever." Music to cook to. Play loud and I'll be back on Monday.

The Instant Pot and my Taiwanese grandmother's cooking lessons - NBC News

Posted: 30 May 2021 06:20 AM PDT

When my grandmother recently turned 74, I called to wish her a happy birthday. We sifted through our regular topics: school, friends, family. Uniquely, the rise in Asian hate crimes came up — since this time last year, attacks against Asian people have risen by nearly 169 percent. And while my grandmother shared her fears, she also told me she's been finding solace in cooking, her form of self-care. It was then that I confided in her my shortcomings when it comes to traditional Chinese meals. I had just moved into my new apartment and was struggling to cook authentic-yet-easy Chinese dishes. After a brief pause, my grandma laughed and said, "不应该这样," or "it shouldn't be that way," a phrase she often uses to chide me regarding my (lack of) knowledge of Taiwanese culture. A few days later, an Instant Pot arrived at my door. I called my grandmother to thank her. "Now you have no excuse to not cook our food," she replied — then we set up a time to make dinner together.

A week or so later, we reconvened and she taught me how to make one of her classic recipes, which also happens to be one of my mom's favorite dishes to eat growing up. A staple Taiwanese dish, Lu rou fan (braised pork rice) is a soy sauce marinated pork belly over a bed of rice. The dish was originally popularized by farmers looking to sustain themselves with a simple, filling meal, she told me. The Instant Pot was perfect for a braised dish like this because it functions as both a slow cooker and rice cooker, as well as a pressure cooker — it can be ready to eat even faster.

By the end of our hour-long FaceTime call, I came away with a strong understanding of how to use the Instant Pot for Chinese dishes, but an even stronger understanding of my family history — cooking lessons tend to resonate outside food. My grandma is from Taiwan, which some argue is home to the best street food in the world, and always says food has played an important part of her life. She learned this recipe from her mother, who passed away shortly after sharing it. As we sprinkled garlic, ginger and five spice powder over the pork, I realized I was now part of an invaluable family tradition.

Unlike my grandmother, I am not an experienced cook. However, after discovering the push-of-a-button convenience of the Instant Pot, I am eager to try out new recipes. The device is easy to use and does the job of a rice maker and steamer in one appliance — those happen to be the two functions I use most frequently.

The Instant Pot Duo is a cult-favorite pressure cooker that is used to roast, make stews, saute and bake, among other functions — unlike my preconceived notions, it's not only useful for American recipes. For those who love congee or custard buns, I can attest that the appliance is good for both and is generally versatile. Not only does it have 13 pre-programed features, but it can also prepare a wide variety of foods and keep them warm for 24 hours.

The Instant Pot Duo series comes in three sizes, including 3, 6 and 8 quarts. I have the 3 quart Mini version, which is designed for parties of one or two people (as well as for those with limited kitchen storage). Not to mention, as one of the more affordable electric cookers on the market, it has garnered an impressive 4.7-star average rating from more than 150,000 Amazon shoppers.

Other essentials from my grandma's kitchen

Joyce Chen Flat Bottom Wok

Another versatile kitchen appliance in my grandma's kitchen is a cast iron wok. With Joyce Chen's wok, amateur and professional chefs alike can stir-fry, roast, steam, boil, pain-fry and braise food. Designed with a flat bottom, this wok is compatible with any stove, unlike their rounded base counterparts, which only work on gas stoves. The wok is made with carbon steel, which "works as well as cast iron for cooking, and is also naturally non-stick after you season it," Diana Kuan, author of "Red Hot Kitchen", previously told us. The 14-inch diameter wok has garnered a 4.3-star average rating from almost 1,900 Amazon shoppers.

Dexam Aluminum Wok Lid

And with the wok comes its all-important sidekick: the lid. My grandma prefers this one from Dexam because it has a domed lid, which will divert condensation away from the food. Made from aluminum and fashioned with a wood handle, the lid has a 4-star rating from over 35 Amazon shoppers.

Helen's Asian Kitchen Stir Fry Spatula

With a 4.7-star average rating from over 1,100 Amazon shoppers, this spatula by Helen's Asian Kitchen is my grandmother's choice. Her favorite feature is the angled edge that makes it easy to get the hard to reach parts in sloped skillets. Made from 100-percent natural bamboo, it is safe to use on nonstick cookware as well as metal pots and pans and won't scratch your kitchen appliances. What's unique about this spatula is that the company also offers a left-handed version, slotted iteration as well as a longer, 15-inch spatula.

Shun Classic Vegetable Cleaver

Made from 34 layers of stainless steel, this 7-inch Shun knife is made from a VG-MAX steel formula, which makes the knife more durable than competitors, according to the brand. Featuring a D-shaped handle craft of PakkaWood, it is moisture-resistant, strong and hard wearing. The knife is also beautiful to look at, featuring a watermark design of Damascus. Also for those who don't sharpen their own knives, Shun has a lifetime free sharpening program where shoppers can send their knives to be sharpened and, within a few weeks, get them back.

Catch up on the latest from NBC News Shopping guides and recommendations and download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.

Kala Herh, Shop TODAY

Kala Herh is a digital editorial intern for NBC News Shopping.

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What to Cook This Week - The New York Times

What to Cook This Week - The New York Times