Seafood can be intimidating, so straightforward and simple is the name of the game, and each and every seafood recipe I have to offer you is back- to-basics. The thing about fish is that it cooks more quickly than other proteins, which means it’s prone to being overcooked, so it’s best to keep a close eye on it. Good thing eating fish is good for eye health. Puttanesca is a fairly simple Italian sauce made with anchovies, olives, capers, and a chunky tomato base. It’s bright and briny, and comes together as quickly as the fish cooks within it, resulting in a beautifully pungent dish that’s shore to make a splash. (SOMEBODY STOP ME, PLEASE.)
If you ask me what my last supper would include, this dish would absolutely make the list. It features a combination of some of my favorite ingredients: lemon, Parmesan, garlic, and butter. I’ve been making this dish for weeknight dinners for over 20 years, especially on Mondays as it’s a good way to use up any sesame bagels or baguettes left over from the weekend.
STEPHEN • These are my attempt to re-create the fantastic salt-and- pepper wings from a local NYC kitchen called La Poulette. I order them when I need something to pick up my spirits. They are very simple to make, and as my version is baked, not fried, I tell myself they are healthy.
EVIE • There are several things that Stephen turns to for comfort. Lord of the Rings is, of course, top of the list, and then old episodes of Veep, but these delicious yet easy chicken wings also are a go-to for calming the brain and restoring the spirit.
Every Filipino family has its own version of lumpia, a fried roll that’s often filled with meat and vegetables and served at parties. Accordingly, this recipe yields a lot of pieces and takes some time, especially if it’s your first time rolling them, but if you’d like to cook a smaller batch, assembled, uncooked lumpia freezes well and can be fried from frozen. My favorite wrappers are the lumpia wrappers from Simex, but in their absence, I like Spring Home’s TYJ Spring Roll Pastry or any other thin wheat-based wrapper meant for spring rolls.
Serves 8–10
This salad is my riff on kasha, the name given to toasted buckwheat groats cooked (in water or milk) throughout Russia and Ukraine. The word kasha basically translates as ‘porridge’ but although in the west we think of porridge as a breakfast food, kasha is commonly a comforting, hearty, savoury dish or side at lunch or dinner – often far less liquid and overcooked than oat porridge. By all means you can serve this salad hot, but I especially like it served at room temperature. The key really is toasting the buckwheat first – it brings out an extra nutty flavour and also stops it all from being too mushy.
Tastes great with: Toasted bread (as a starter), or pasta or couscous (as a main course)
Daniel almost always has steaks sitting in the freezer, but he rarely has the forethought to plan on cooking one (and setting it out to defrost) the night before. One evening, after a particularly vigorous jujitsu match (he wrestles competitively), he was famished and had a strong hankering for a steak. Without the time or patience to defrost one, he tossed the seasoned, though still frozen, block of icy beef under the broiler for ten minutes. To his surprise, the steak cooked beautifully this way, with rendered, crispy, golden fat and a deeply browned crust. As with all meat cookery, resting the steak for a few minutes when it comes off the flame is key to redistributing the juices and getting an even medium-rare cook temperature from edge to edge.
Smoky and spicy chipotle peppers plus Cucumber Yogurt Dip make for an entirely different condiment, one that you can use on almost anything that calls for mayonnaise or ketchup.