Good morning. If I could wish one thing for you today, and I can, it’d be for a sense of peace to descend upon you, if only for a moment. No fears about the weather, no stress about the news, no feeling that tomorrow will bring pulses of worry and anxiety. There is only summer, only a breeze, only a kiss of sunlight and, if you’re lucky, a few flowers and a whistling bird.
I want for you a day of rest and ease, with little to concern you but a trip to the market and dinner to prepare. Embrace that notion. Cook with it. Unless you’re working, unless you’re on call or patrolling, responsible for infants or the aged, there is no reason to concern yourself today with the future. Tell yourself: Just this once!
For dinner, Eric Kim’s recipe for gochujang-glazed eggplant with fried scallions (above), fiery and sweet-salty on its own with rice, or as a banchan to accompany bulgogi or tteokbokki. The scallion oil used to cook the eggplant is exquisitely oniony, a perfect foil for the meaty, caramelized eggplant.
Featured Recipe
Gochujang-Glazed Eggplant With Fried Scallions
With maybe some honey cookies with vanilla ice cream for dessert? You could remember this day for months, take comfort in it, repeat its lessons in moments when the black dog barks.
As for the rest of the week. …
Monday
My old colleague Ian Fisher perfected his recipe for spaghetti carbonara over the course of years, after a disastrous outing when he was the Rome correspondent for The Times, cooking the dish for a posh set of Italians and their children (who gobbled it up nonetheless). Research, practice and more practice set him on the correct path, which you should follow this evening.
Tuesday
There’s really no wrong way to make a tomato salad this time of year, but Nisha Vora’s new recipe for an heirloom tomato salad with whipped tofu ricotta and chile oil, from her cookbook “Big Vegan Flavor,” is absolutely terrific. The creamy tofu combines beautifully with the meaty juiciness of the tomatoes, while shallots, garlic, a mild drizzle of chile oil and a lash of balsamic vinegar add an acidic zip. Finish with sea salt and serve with garlic bread.
Wednesday
Sue Li’s new recipe for Chinese chicken salad is an all-American classic, easily made on a weeknight with shredded rotisserie chicken tossed with a splash of soy sauce (I use a mushroom soy sauce for extra pop), along with an orangey dressing cut through with sesame oil. Iceberg lettuce and a little Napa cabbage provide a welcome crunch that I augment with roasted cashews or fried wonton strips
Thursday
I love Melissa Clark’s recipe for crispy-edged quesadillas on a workday evening, sometimes with an avocado salsa, other times with fried eggs, most often with both. Melissa fries her quesadillas with neutral oil, but I occasionally use a high-fat butter instead, which browns and turns nutty in the heat, adding another flavor layer to the crunch and gooeyness.
Friday
And then you can head into the weekend with Kay Chun’s recipe for stir-fried cabbage and pork in fish sauce butter, which rewards fast hands and high heat to deliver a beautifully charred, punchy result, salty with fish sauce and bright with lime, over a bass line of garlic, ginger and scallions. Finish with chopped cilantro and serve over steamed rice. Want a little more pow than crushed red pepper flakes provide? Add some thinly sliced bird’s-eye chiles at the end.
There are many more ideas for what to cook this week awaiting you at New York Times Cooking. (Yes, you need a subscription to access them. Subscriptions are the fuel in our stoves. Please, if you haven’t taken one out yet, would you think about subscribing today? Thanks.)
If you find yourself in a jam with our technology or your account, please reach out for help. We’re at [email protected]. Someone will get back to you. Or if you’d like to pay a compliment or register a complaint, you can write to me: [email protected]. I cannot respond to every letter. But I read each one I get.
Now, you’d have to do a lot of math to make it have anything to do with food, but I think you’ll thrill to Sarah Lyall’s guide to the essential Jane Austen, in The New York Times.
I cannot get enough of the general-store drama enveloping the Hamptons this summer. For New York magazine, Nora DeLigter reports from the Springs.
Here’s a new poem by Kathleen Jamie in the London Review of Books: “Considering a Hike to Yon Tree.”
Finally, it’s Juliana Hatfield’s birthday. She’s 58. Listen to her live performance of “My Sister” in 2015, and enjoy the day. I’ll be back next week.
Sam Sifton is an assistant managing editor, responsible for culture and lifestyle coverage, and the founding editor of New York Times Cooking.
The post Eric Kim’s Five-Star Gochujang-Glazed Eggplant appeared first on New York Times.
